The popular uprising in Egypt will achieve at least one victory: the end of the nepotist aspirations of Gamal Mubarak, the son of the 30-year reigning dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Even if the regime does not fall and the president and his family are not sent packing to Saudi Arabia a la Tunisia’s Ben Ali, the dynamics have changed and the situation has been untenable, to say the least, for a Gamal succession. Already widely loathed and met with severe devastating whenever the idea if heard, Gamal thought he could impose his will on the Egyptian people. But after the Tunisian Jasmine Revolution when a popular uprising brought down an Arab dictator the Arab people say how vulnerable their tyrants actually are and they have broken the psychological fear barrier to resist their rulers.
Gamal relied on that fear and resignation. But now it has been obviated. And his prospects are no longer extant. Right after Tunisia I knew that if any Arab is more afraid it’s Gamal. Arab dictators worry, but Gamal knew that the events from Tunisia would negate his hopes for the presidency.
For a background, Gamal Mubarak was – like his father – determined to reign, the public be damned. Posters promoting his candidacy have been placed around the capital, ostensibly by an independent committee that is so enamored with Gamal and which Gamal and his entourage have nothing to do with. And the Mini-Mubarak has been holding America-style town hall forums with vetted guests and vetted questions.
Those shams will now end. Egypt’s are already tearing the posters of the vile dictator. Imagine what they’d do if a Gamal image was put up. It would be down even before it was half-way up.
Gamal is not a footnote in Egyptian history.
