Now, that country must decide if it wants an Islamist or a military man as President
Bedridden, he had been wheeled into the Cairo courtroom cage on a hospital gurney replete with white sheets and white pillow covers. His eyes may have been hidden behind dark glasses but his arms remained crossed defiantly against his chest. On that fateful Saturday evening, as the judge sentenced him to a life in prison, Hosni Mubarak’s stern, almost stoic, face betrayed no emotion.
No, it was not until the former Egyptian strongman realised that he had been flown to the high-security Torah Prison in Cairo that he finally broke down. Like a belligerent child on its first day of school, the 83-year-old Mubarak refused to be taken off the helicopter. Instead, he demanded that he be taken to the military-run International Health Centre where he had been detained in a luxury suite for the most part of his nine-month-long trial. Even as his sons and aides intervened, the situation took a turn for the worse as a “surprise health crisis” (as it has been commonly described in the media) ensued.
It was not until after two hours that Mubarak finally relented. He was then taken to his cell located in the hospital wing of Torah Prison where he is currently lodged. In the days since then, the former President, who had ruled the country with an iron fist for three decade, has been given the prison’s regulation blue uniform (one that he initially refused to wear but now sports grudgingly) as well as assigned a prison number. He has also been allowed to be tended by doctors of his choice, and his sons, who are detained in the same prison on charges of insider trading, have been moved closer to his cell for company. Still, the former President, who liked to see himself as an Egyptian Pharaoh, has had a tough time accepting his new life as a prisoner. He has complained of maltreatment while prison officials report that his health has been deteriorating, that he suffers from depression and often refuses to take his medicines. On Tuesday, after he collapsed several times due to breathing trouble, he in fact had to be put on the ventilator.
But even as Mubarak struggles to adjust to a new routine that includes three meals a day and medical assistance but few other luxuries, outside the gates of Torah Prison a struggle of a very different kind has been unfolding.
The people of Egypt are deeply disappointed by the Mubarak verdict and have once again returned to the streets to reclaim their hard-fought revolution. On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square to demand a death sentence for the convicted. The overwhelming feeling is that the Mubarak trial has been a sham. This, of course, is not far from the truth.
That Mubarak was indeed responsible for many crimes of corruption and human rights violations committed over a period of three decades is beyond doubt. Yet, the charges that were brought against him were vague and lacked legal substance. Furthermore, they were poorly supported by the prosecution that failed to provide strong evidence of Mubarak’s alleged crimes. The verdict that was delivered on Saturday, unsurprisingly then, reflects the chaotic and haphazard manner in which the Mubarak trial was conducted.
It sentences Mubarak and his former Interior Minister to prison for killing protesters during the pro-democracy movement of 2011 that ousted the long-serving President from office but lets off the hook the six police officials who were directly responsible for carrying out the orders. Additionally, it also clears Mubarak and his sons of many of the corruption charges that were levelled against them. And don’t be surprised if the verdict on the killing of protesters is also turned on appeal. Egyptian lawmakers feel this is a definite possibility, at least from the legal point of view, because ultimately the case that has been put together against Mubarak is, by common consent, weak and can easily be ripped apart.
To anybody with an independent eye, it should be clear that the Mubarak trial was essentially a smokescreen put up by the military — which helped ease Mubarak out of office and currently runs the country through the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces — to soothe the frayed nerves of an increasingly polarised Egyptian public. The mob at Tahrir has long been baying for Mubarak’s blood; by offering him to the public as a grand sacrifice of sorts, the military which lost much public support since last year (when it was viewed as a hero for siding with the protesters) has not only tried to win over the people but also hopes that it would deflect attention from its own crimes. However, it seems to have achieved only limited results which have dangerous consequences.
Not only has the trial verdict unleashed popular anger on the streets, it has served as an easy political tool that is being manipulated by Egypt’s fractured political class to further vested interests at this crucial time of democratic transition. Earlier this year, Egypt held its first genuinely free and fair elections in decades to find itself a new President. Twelve candidates fought it out, including Islamists and secularists, Leftists and communists, and lawyers and activists. The two leaders who got the most votes — Mohammed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq — are scheduled to face each other again in a run-off election on June 16 and 17. The winner will then be declared Egypt’s new President.
The problem is that Egypt does not want either candidate as its President. While Mr Morsi is an unremarkable leader put up by the Muslim Brotherhood after its initial firebrand choice was disqualified, Mr Shafiq is a former Air Chief who briefly served as Mubarak’s Prime Minister in the days before the then President stepped down from office. Both claim to want to guide Egypt on a new path, but neither claim has cut ice with the public.
On his part, Mr Morsi has tried to portray himself as a man of the revolution but has failed to convince the people. It is widely accepted that the Muslim Brotherhood kept away from the protests last year but has since gate-crashed the Tahrir party. Mr Shafiq, on the other hand, has tried to distance himself from the old regime to which he belongs, highlighting instead his secular leadership credentials. But the people still see him as a Mubarak-era official and that does not augur well for his presidential campaign. Generally speaking, there is no saying who will win the upcoming election — no, not while Egypt is still caught in an identity crisis of its own.
Meanwhile, the military continues to keep a watch from the wings — waiting for the right moment (that will include just the right amount of chaos and anarchy) to take charge, for good. Already, the Council has set an absurd 48-hour deadline for political parties to finalise the formation of a 100-member panel to write a new Constitution. Or else, it has threatened to draw up its own blueprint signalling the beginning of an all new era in Egyptian politics. A great amount of uncertainty, then, awaits Egypt.
(This article was published in the Op-ed section of The Pioneer on June 7, 2012.)
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