In the end, the refusal of pro-democracy
protesters to back down sealed his fate. The people on the streets of
Egypt insisted that Mubarak leave. But the West stood by the leader
almost to the end, despite the fact that the despot had turned his
country into a police state and plundered its economy.
It was exactly 6:00 p.m. local time in Cairo when the decision was
made public. In a curt statement, Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman
announced that President Hosni Mubarak, due to the “difficult situation”
in the country, was leaving office. Power, Suleiman said, would
initially be transferred to the Egyptian army.
The resignation is a triumph for the opposition. Weeks of growing
demonstrations continually increased pressure on Mubarak. Three times,
the president addressed his people. Three times he said he would not
step down.
The 82-year-old Mubarak ruled his country for three full decades, but
in the end, even he realized that he could not stand up to the mass
protests that have rocked Egypt for the last 18 days. The demonstrators
simply refused to give up. And even those who had long stood by
Mubarak’s side — United States President Barack Obama; leaders from
across Europe — began to abandon him. It was time, they said, for the
Egyptian leader to make way for a new beginning.
Hundreds of thousand…
