a thread about the civil unrest in egypt (& elsewhere in 'the region' if necessary)

wait what did he just say?

as of TOMORROW, will designate interim gov't

whoah

!!!

whoa wtf this speech took a drastic turn

oh my god

ooh

"I have ordered the government to step down, and I will name a new government tomorrow"

is he just like dissolving parliament?

he's staying put it looks like

He's not stepping down, he's just changing the government

twitter responses saying otherwise -- mubarak asked the gov't to step down, whatever that means.

xps lol

oh shit he just said he is stepping down

he said he'd ordered the government to step down, and he'd name a new one tomorrow, but he himself isn't going anywhere!

yeah i was listening to a translation obv but i didn't hear him explicitly say he was leaving office?

xps yeah

not a tenable position surely

kinda hard to believe he's almost 83 yrs old

What channel are you watching (if seeing this in the UK)?

i know yall hate me that's why i'm firing my staff

al-jazeera

reporter saying (obviously) that this won't be enough for the protesters, power is concentrated in the hands of the president anyway

so he's sacking his entire cabinet

wonder if he's playing for time to figure out some way to step aside without being killed/tried for crimes/imprisoned/whatever

thanks xp - don't have it, will keep getting my news from ilx

ismael - http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

sorry for bungling the translation guys

yes use lex's link

aljazeera is crashing my shit, so there's also http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

thanks lex etc

has anyone made the "mubarak in de nile" joke yet?

Al Jazeera English: Live Stream http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

sorry for bungling the translation guys

― ex-heroin addict tricycle (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, January 28, 2011 5:33 PM (21 seconds ago)

haha it's okay, i was sort of tuning him out because it seemed like he wasn't saying much, then all of the sudden i heard "new government tomorrow" and read what you said

I'm sure he could find refuge somewhere, Saudi at least. If he does attempt this legalistic gambit, (and assuming he digs in and keeps hold of power - something I'm very sceptical about) will he run for re-election in September?

Ismael:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698
live coverage there

more coverage here > http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

has anyone made the "mubarak in de nile" joke yet?

More like 'who hasn't'

Yes, upthread. (re De Nile joke)

I wasn't really clear to me what "the government" meant in the context of the speech

xp

Got it now thanks xp - every time he looks up I expect to see that it's Berlusconi

Got it now thanks

The de Nile joke?

yeah is he dissolving parliament or just replacing his cabinet?

White House's maneuvering here is interesting - all the noise from the State Dept makes it seem like they'd all be more than happy to see Mubarak go, they're just worried about giving him an exit strategy that will preserve US interests

VVV

all the noise from the State Dept makes it seem like they'd all be more than happy to see Mubarak go

on that note, i'm not really sure what to make of this piece that seems to be trying to claim that the US was behind this - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8289686/Egypt-protests-Americas-secret-backing-for-rebel-leaders-behind-uprising.html - seems a stretch, to put it mildly, but:

The American Embassy in Cairo helped a young dissident attend a US-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police.

On his return to Cairo in December 2008, the activist told US diplomats that an alliance of opposition groups had drawn up a plan to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak and install a democratic government in 2011.

Shakey, given Egypt's history, that interest is likely to be 'stability'.

aljazeera isn't giving me anything atm but that could be where i am (work)

Dissolving Parliament would require new elections, no? So perhaps dissolving the cabinet and maybe a reshuffling of the Prime Minister etc. from within the NDP.

Most hilarious bit of that entire speech was the bit that claimed that the ONLY reason the protestors were able to express their grievances was due to Mubarak's own reforms. Which...yes, this is in some meaning of those words true, but LOL at the idea that ppl should be grateful for him "granting" them rights of free speech etc. Also, the idea that his magnanimity in not ordering the army to use violent means vs. protestors should be appreciated.

^^^yeah this was my thinking too. even if he has the authority to dissolve Parliament (okay, sure) that would mean new elections. He can't just appoint a new Parliament, even if he is head of the majority ruling party.

xp

and yes that was lol about the freedoms of the press/assembly being "granted" by the gov't

Will the cabinet actually resign? Does it even matter? Is this just Hitler moving imaginary divisions around in his bunker?

bbc crawl says mubarak is "trying to distance himself from the crack-down across the country"

that would be quite a feat

he's trying to buy some time