To keep you up to date on the latest in the ever-democratizing Middle East, President Hosni Mubarak is back in Egypt. The 76-year old had been in Germany for surgery on his back. Now that he has returned he has sacked his prime minister and cabinet. Perhaps his new government will give us a clue as to what the country's leadership will look like after he leaves the scene. But in any event I think we can be sure that things like competitive elections and freedom of speech and assembly will have little place in at the least the early post-Mubarak years. Much like they've had little to do with the 23 (so far) Mubarak years. For further information on the political scene in Egypt you might want to look at David Remnick's interesting piece in the July 12 & 19th issue of The New Yorker. It's not a pretty picture.
Posted by armand at July 9, 2004 03:03 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Politics