President Hosni Mubarak Decides Not To Run For New Term in Office But Stays Until Current Mandate Expires
Hosni Mubarak (manhattaninfidel.com)
The President of Egypt has announced on national television late on Tuesday that he would not candidate for another term in the office, thus following the advise of President Barack Obama who had urged him, in a message transmitted by the U.S. ambassador to Cairo, not to run for a new term in office.
The news had been announced by Al Arabiya and Reuters news agency, and it was confirmed by presidential speech, which was meant to be a defiant address but also a decent stage out, with Mubarak speaking of his achievements, of dignity, and honor, and of the wish to die on Egyptian land. Al Arabiya sent the message via a Twitter message.
He made it clear he would stay in power until October, when his mandate expires, assuring a transition to democratic power, in his own words.
The reaction of the people (about a million, according to reports) does not seem to be very positive in the streets, given that the Egyptians are still protesting in the cities, in spite of the late hour.
Earlier in the day, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyep Recep Erdogan had advised the president to heed to the voice of the people.
Analysts think he fell very short of actually advising the president to stand down and leave office.
Unrest in Egypt (manhattaninfidel.com)
In a speech to members of ruling party AK, Erdogan told the president he made him “a sincere recommendation, a candid warning,” reminding Hosni Mubarak all people die and what matters is what everyone leaves behind.
He also urged him to “satisfy the people’s desires for change,” adding that the way to solve this problem is by holding elections.
At the end of his address, Erdogan said he would revisit the idea of going to Cairo as soon as situation returns to normal. He was supposed to go there on February 8-9, but the visit was postponed.
Turkey is a model of democracy among the Arab states, and is exactly for this that the officials in Washington were in close contact with Turkey these days.
Over the weekend, the American President called the Turkish PM to discuss the situation.
Turkish authorities expressed their solidarity with Tunisia and Egypt in this dark moments, and reaffirmed that the people living in these lands do not deserve to live in conditions of poverty and illiteracy.
Turkey is one of the states who practically told, though not in so many words, Mubarak to resign office, following suit of the United States, and EU, who spoke of a “orderly transition.”
Israel, on the other hand, expressed yesterday its support for Mubarak, considering that his removal would throw the entire region into chaos.
