History of Hosni Mubarak - Research Paper Example

Name Tutor Course Date Chapter 1 History of Hosni Mubarak (1981-1991) Introduction Hosni Mubarak became the president of the republic of Egypt in October 1981. This was after the death of the president Anwar El Sadat. He was assassinated by military personnel led by a Lieutenant in the armed forces. Hosni was the then vice president and the deputy leader of the National Democratic Party. He was also injured during the assassination. He then assumed power immediately and he became the leader of the National Democratic Party. This was after a nationwide referendum where he was unopposed. Due to his position as the president of Egypt, he automatically became the chairman of the Military council. During this time there was only one party. Multi party system had not been introduced (Slackman 2). Political leadership and events Due to his experience in foreign affairs, he embarked on several diplomatic assignments during his early days of presidency. He ensured that the Camp David treaty that had been signed earlier with Israel was maintained. This led to several diplomatic missions to Israel. His efforts were welcomed by Israel and in 1982, Egypt regained the Sinai Peninsula. This was an area that was being occupied by the Israelis after the past conflict. This was a good gesture and he won praise from some of the Egyptians and the Israelis. He ensured that the policies left by the former president Sadat continued. He crushed an Islamic militancy that was trying to wage revolt against his rule and won. This led to the declaration of state of emergency which saw the arrest of more than 2,500 people. Some of them were executed depending on their role in the revolt. Many were sentenced to long term jail sentences while a few were released. This played a big role in distrust from his people. He was also against religious movements that had political ambitions. He ensured that the Islamic revolt was crushed (Xinhua News Agency 5). In 1982, during the border disputes between the Israeli nation and the Palestinians, he was forced to withdraw the ambassador to Israel. This was due to mounting pressure from the Arabic nations which had suspended Egypt from its League. He however maintained good relations with Israel. Since Egypt had been suspended from the Arab league due to signing the Camp David treaty with Israel, he tried to go back to the league. This was mainly through diplomatic measures with the members of the Arab League. He also maintained good relationship with the United States of America. He even had military ties with the US over the use of facilities in Egypt. However he was oppose of the idea of the US setting up a base inside Egypt. He extended his diplomatic ties to Europe and Asia and in 1984 he allowed the Soviet Union ambassador to return to Egypt. This boosted the ties between the two countries. He emphasized on the fight of corruption in his country. After taking power, he ensured that all the corrupt ministers from the former regime were sacked and prosecuted. He even went further and prosecuted Sadats brother who had acquired wealth illegally. He also maintained that no religious affiliated political party will be allowed to contests. The reason being to avoid inters religious conflicts. This was because of the presence of the Copts and Christians in Egypt (Slackman 12). During the 1984 elections, he won easily with a majority vote. His party also captured most of the seats. This can be attributed to his fame and policies. His fight against corruption and the economic policies he had developed was the key to his victory in the elections. This was the first elections under his presidency. He continued with his diplomatic missions to ensure the suspension of Egypt from the Arab League is lofted. He also continued maintaining a good relationship with Israel. In 1986 he agreed to return the Egyptian ambassador to Israel. This further promoted the good relationship with the two countries. During the 1987 Elections he ran for the presidency seeking the second term re-election on a National Democratic party (Baker, 1990). A party he had become the leader. He won the elections with a landslide victory and served as president for the next six years. He then focused on building closer relationship with the people so as to gain more trust and popularity. Through his efforts, the suspension of Egypt was lifted from the Arab League. Egypt became a member of the league again. He then focused on being the powerful state in the League. Due to his influence and political leadership, he quickly gained popularity among the African state. He was elected anonymously to serve as the Chairman of the Organization of African Union (OAU), this being the organization that brought together all the African countries. He served this organization for one year as the chairman (Springbourgh 54). During the gulf war in 1990, he was at the forefront in condemning the role played by the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. According to him it was wrong for Iraq to invade Kuwait. He thought that the war could have been avoided. He supported the decision by the Arab League to seek military action against Iraq. When Saudi Arabia invited the western nations to help in combating the Iraqi forces he was quite supportive. He committed about 45,000 troops to fight alongside the coalition forces to help protect the sovereignty of Kuwait. This was considered very helpful and he became more popular among his western allies and the Arab League. No other country was prepared to send such a huge number of military personnel to fight the Iraqi forces. His prominence also rose among the local people. The coalition forces registered huge success in the war and the sovereignty of Kuwait was restored. He was credited for the support he accorded the coalition forces. Conclusion Hosni Mubarak rose to power after the death of the president who was Sadat. According to the paper he was very ambitious in his early stages of leadership. He worked hard to ensure that Egypt has good diplomatic relationship with other countries. This saw Egypt work closely with superpowers. Both the Soviet Union and the US worked together closely. To ensure that there was a good working relationship with the Arabic nations, he worked hard to ensure that the suspension of Egypt from the Arab League was lifted. According to the paper he also ensured that he gains the trust of the Egyptians. This he did through combating corruption in the government and creating policies that enabled job creation. During the early 1990s he joined the coalition forces fighting the Iraqi soldiers occupying Kuwait. This increased his popularity and supports both locally and internationally. Works Cited Xinhua News Agency (2010). Profile: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Retrieved on February 24, 2012. . Slackman M, (2010). The New York Times. Baker R (1990) Sadat and after: Struggles for Egypt’s Political Soul. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Springborg R (1989). Mubarak's Egypt: Fragmentation of the Political Order. Boulder, CO: Westview. Chapter 2: 1991-2001 Introduction During this time Hosni had already spent close to a decade in power. He had already established diplomatic ties with most of the countries in the world and he was still maintaining a good relationship with Israel. The gulf war had just ended and Egypt had made a great contribution towards attaining peace and stability in the Gulf. The popularity of President Hosni Mubarak had risen throughout Africa. During this time Egypt got a huge debt relief after the cancellation of $14b dollars. This was mainly a sign of gesture for the role it played in the resolution of the Gulf conflict. However Islamic insurgency had resurfaced at this time and the election period was nearing again. All presented a credible challenge to the leadership skills of Hosni Mubarak. However these issues were no a major threat to his political career and leadership. Political Leadership and events In 1992, the government of Hosni Mubarak faced a major challenge. The Islamic militants resurfaced. This saw several top government officials assassinated. There were also attempts to assassinate President Hosni Mubarak. He was able to counter these revolts through violent and ruthless operations by the police and the armed forces on members of the Islamic movements and opposition (Weaver 44). More than 20,000 people were arrested and detained. Some of them were executed as it had happen during his early days in power. He took this stern action against the rebels since the tourism industry was being affected by the uprising. Some of the rebels were killing foreigners including tourists. This was affecting the economy of Egypt. In 1993 elections were held for the second term. He was able to win easily through a majority vote despite the still opposition and challenges he was facing. He got more than 95% of the votes casted. This gave him another opportunity to be the president of Egypt for the next six years. After winning the elections he was reappointed as the chairman of the Organization of African Unity, (OAU). This is a position he had served before. This proved that the African leaders had confidence in his leadership styles and skills. He served as the chairman for one year from 1993-1994 when his term ended. He therefore had enough time to concentrate with the issues facing his own country. Although he had crushed the Islamic militancy, fears of possible assassinations was still an issue in the government. In 1995 he escaped an assassination attempt which was mainly blamed on the Islamic militants and the opposition. This occurred in Ethiopia where he was attending an OAU meeting. Toxic gases were used but the assassination failed. The assassination led to the death of two policemen and one assailant (Daniszewsk 51). This incident radicalizes Hosni and he ordered the military and the police to conduct a brutal operation \which led to the deaths of many people. This action further tainted his credibility as the president. There were criticisms by the civil society and human rights activists concerning the violation of human rights. However this issue did not affect his popularity to a large extent and he continued being the powerful leader he had always been. Despite these critics on the human rights violation, the Arab Nations still had a lot of faith in him. In 1996 he was appointed the chairman of the Arab summit. The Arab Nations considered him not just the president but also a diplomat. This was mainly attributed to his experience in handling the foreign affairs since when he was the vice president. He had also traveled widely during his time in the Air force. To gain more confidence in Egypt, he embarked on several projects in the arid areas to boost food security and create employment. The projects were quite successful and he won the confidence of most Egyptians who were jobless and had no food. This made him a popular leader again amongst the Egyptians. He also won several awards during this term in office for various achievements. In 1995 he was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for the outstanding service to his nation. It is at this term in office that he was able to fully lay his grip on power. He also ensured that the constitution was not changed since he inherited the presidency from Sadat (Kienle 21). 1999 was another electioneering year and he still wanted to run for his third term in office. During this year he also escaped another assassination attempt in Port Said. This time he was slightly injured by a knife welding assassin. It is believed that he taking extra caution after Sadat was assassinated. Again he gained political mileage from this incident. He ran for the presidency later that year. The constitution had not been amended and it was illegal for anyone to run against the president instead the elected members were tasked with the responsibility of choosing the president. Although there were still some opposition, he won the elections with a majority vote and he was awarded the fourth term in office (Goldschmidt, 1999). During this time he was still running as the chairman of the G-15 a position he was holding from 1998. Despite his victory the opposition was not satisfied with leadership style and qualities. This led to protests which were mainly met by violent resistance by the government forces. During his term in office, he had the powers of appointing high government officials including the vice president and the prime minister who reported directly to him. In most of the instances he appointed his allies to ser e in the government. This was the main issue that annoyed the opposition and his critics. However during his fourth term in office there was relative political stability and calmness. Conclusion According to the paper, this time was quite promising to the Egyptians. Hosni had made an effort in intervening in the gulf war and the country was rewarded with a huge debt relief. This increased the popularity of Hosni. According to the paper he was also able to capture the attention of the African continent ad he was appointed to several positions as the chairman. This includes the OAU. This demonstrated the confidence the African leaders had on him. However rebellion still persisted in his country against his rule. He was able to suppress them through brutal force and intimidation. According to the paper, he survived several assassinations attempt and he lost several government officials in the hands of the assassins. This however did not stop his popularity and he was elected as president for a four year term. The constitution was also not amended at this period and he became the only presidential aspirant. This fact angered the opposition. Works Cited Goldschmidt A, (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt. Boulder, CO: L. Rienner, Kienle E, (2001) Grand Delusion: Democracy and Economic Reform in Egypt. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, Daniszewski J, (1999). Man Killed After Injuring Mubarak. Retrieved on February 23, 2012 Weaver M, (1999). A Portrait of Egypt: A Journey through the World of Militant Islam. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, Chapter 3:2001-2011 Introduction This period marked the turning point of the Egyptians as a nation as well as president Hosni Mubarak. Most of the people in Egypt were educated and the majority of them were youths. Some of the policies that had been put in place by Hosni Mubarak were becoming irrelevant and hence the need for changes. This is an issue that Hosni had to deal with so as to continue staying in power. Most of the people were demanding for a change in the constitution to allow for democracy in Egypt. This was mainly because democracy was being embraced all over the world. This period also marked the end of Hosni Mubaraks rule. Political leadership and events During the early 2000 Egypt was beginning to enjoy the benefits of the projects that had been initiated by President Hosni Mubarak. The youth were the majority and Hosni was forced to make policies that would accommodate them in the government. The economy was also performing well and Egypt was still maintaining good relationship with Israel and was an active member of the Arab League. President Hosni Mubarak became an active member in the quest for a lasting solution to the conflicts between Israel and Palestine. Through the Beirut conference in 2002, President Mubarak was endorsed as the negotiator in the peace deal between Israel and Hamas. Hamas was a militant group controlling Palestine. He was given this opportunity due to his good relations with both Israel and Palestine. He was able to make some remarkable progress which bore fruits in 2007. In 2003 The United States of America invaded Iraq. Hosni was quick to point out that the invasion was not necessary and may lead to further conflicts in Iraq. However he was in support of the American forces staying long in Iraq to avoid further religious and ethnic conflicts (Caraley 56). The year 2004 marked the beginning of changes in the Egyptian politics. The prime minister together with several ministers resigned from the government. Hosni accepted their resignations and made new changes to the cabinet immediately. The new cabinet was expected to foresee the economic growth and implement the policies made by Hosni. Although it was successful in some areas, it did not succeed in others. The youth who were the majority and were jobless criticized the cabinet together with President Hosni. However, the critism was contained. 2005 was an electioneering year and president Hosni wanted to contest for the fifth term in office. This angered most of the youth who de3manded that the constitution be amended to allow for multiple candidates contesting for presidency. President Hosni had no choice but to endorse the changes which were made by parliament. Multiple candidates were allowed to contest for presidency. However this did not take place since Hosni sought nominations from parliament which endorsed him as a candidate. This was then confirmed through a countrywide referendum. He thus retained his grip on power angering the opposition further. However the elections were conducted later which he was pronounced the winner. However, according to observers, the elections were marred by irregularities and massive rigging (Michael 5). After the elections, an opposition candidate filed a case demanding for fresh elections which was to be free and fair. However he was not successful and was accused of forgery which carries a jail term. HE was later convicted to five years imprisonment with hard labor. This move saw Hosni and his government receive a world wide critisism. The US also criticized Hosni's government. However, this move did not affect the relations between the two countries. Hosni was able to maintain his grip on power but he had to relax some of the strict rules. Later in 2005, Hosni and his government were accused of massive corruption by an independent non governmental organization operating in Egypt. This move led to massive criticisms from the citizens although the allegations were denied by Hosni. Instead he accused the non governmental organization of publishing false reports and misleading the public. However another organization called Transparency international confirmed the corruption allegations later in 2010 (Transparency International 2010). This angered the people even more. The situation was made worse by the fact that Hosni was planning to run in the 2011 general elections. This led to a turning point in Egypt’s political arena. The people were fed up with Hosni’s regime and a countrywide protest was sparked. In January 25th 2011 the protests began. The main aim was to force Mubarak out of power and elect new leaders. This was mainly due to the fact that he people were fed up by his rule. The protest started in the capital Cairo and it later spread to the other parts of the country. The people were demanding for better living conditions. However this protest was met with resistance initially. Hosni mobilized his supporters to fight and attack the protestors so as to suppress the protest. However the people led by the opposition leaders stood firm and refused to leave the streets. Mubarak then ordered the policemen and the military to attack the civilians and also detain those who resisted. The protesters however remained united and the police were unable to stop them. During the confrontations, several people were killed by the police and the military. This inspired the protestors to push their demands to the end. One week later, Hosni saw that the situation cannot be solved by military force. He announced that he will not run for presidency but he refused to leave office until he completed his term. This did not work. He then promised to hand over the power to the vice president but still the protestors refused (Paul 4). He was forced to step down in February 11th. The power was then transferred to the military council who promised to organize a free and fair election. However Hosni had to stand trial for corruption charges and the deaths of the protestors. Conclusion According to the paper, this was the last decade of power for Hosni Mubarak. After having seen the need for instituting a political reform so as to gain the confidence of the local people, he made some changes. He formed a new cabinet to accommodate the demands by the people. According to the paper, he also allowed a constitution amendment to allow for multiple candidates to run for presidency. However he was still able to regain power after rigging the election together with other irregularities during the elections. Due to widespread corruption allegations, the people were fed up by his rule and demanded for a change. According to the paper, there was a widespread protest which eventually led to his resignation. However after resigning, he was arrested and faces several criminal charges. Works Cited Paul A, (2011). "Egypt protests: Hosni Mubarak to make TV address". Retrieved on February 23, 2012 from  . Transparency International. "CPI 2010 table". Retrieved on February 23 2012 from . Caraley D, (2004). American hegemony: preventive war, Iraq, and imposing democracy. New York: McGraw Hill. Michael S, (2005). The New York Times: "Testing Egypt, Mubarak Rival Is Sent to Jail". Retrieved on February 23, 2012 from . Read More