Egypt the state which is known Essay examples

Submitted By myersmik
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Egypt, the state which is known for the ancient pyramids, sphinx in its vast desserts and oasis’s, remains in political turmoil even after the revolution in 2011 which caused the resignation of long time President Honsi Mubarak. The State of Egypt is one of political uncertainty and in serious economic troubles. The Arab Spring and the revolution caused the overthrow of the Mubarak regime that ran the State as a dictatorship for thirty years. During the revolution, many protests and rallies formed in the squares of Cairo and other cities in Egypt demanding change from the old ways. During this period, many people who rallied and affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood during the revolution were arrested and sentenced to jail for their crimes. (Hill and Mansour) In 1981 Honsi Mubarak became president after President Anwar El Sadat was assassinated. Mubarak was in office until the most recent revolution of 2011 leading to the new form of government and control known as the Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak served as one of the world’s longest-serving presidents. Running Egypt as a dictatorship Mubarak did so with an iron hand. However, in doing so he kept most of Egypt’s people in poverty and created inequality amongst the people. Mubarak used the police to torture and punished anyone who held any type of resentment towards his regime. Under Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat, Mubarak served in various military post and was the deputy minister of war in Egypt from 1972 to 1975. In 1975, Mubarak became vice president. (Hosni) Immediately following Sadat’s assassination and becoming President, Mubarak re-imposed the Emergency Law. The Emergency law was established in 1958 and imposed during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War until 1980 under the regime of Sadat. The Emergency Law took away the rights of Egyptians citizens with regards to constitutional rights and allowed the government to tap phone lines, internet links and imprison individuals with no reason and without trials. Mubarak reenacted the Emergency Law claiming the need to do so to limit the influence of terrorist groups. However, during Mubarak’s 30-year reign he consistently extended the Emergency Law every three years. (Kapp, 2011) Many Egyptians wanted Egypt to be a democratic country and to be liberated and, therefore, questioned the merits of the Emergency Law. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights even claimed in 2002 that the Emergency Law was “…determinate to the Egyptian Population.” (Kapp, 2011) During the Bush administration during 2004 and 2005, in an effort to create a democracy in the Middle East Mubarak made promises that there would be more open elections. However, the Muslim Brotherhood candidates won 20% of parliamentary seats in 2006 which caused Mubarak to come down heavy on the Muslim Brotherhood. When Mubarak’s opposing candidate Ayman Nour of the Tomorrow Party won more than 7% of the vote in the 2005 presidential election, Mubarak had Nour put in prison for three years, based on false charges. (Kapp, 2011) The election only had a small sampling of the Egyptian people come out to vote as many believed the elections were rigged. In 2005, President Hosni Mubarak promised various changes, which included repealing the Emergency Law; however, he did not live up to his promises, and he renewed the Emergency Law. (Kapp, 2011) The upsurge of the Egyptian people and the cause of the revolution were because they no longer wanted a ruler who violated the rights of individuals and wanted someone who respected Human Rights. (Saeda, 2011) As stated by Mr. Hafez Abu Saeda, chairman of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, on February 7, 2011 during an interview, 300 people had been killed, and 2000 injured during the demonstration. The people of Egypt are tired of the rigged elections, and people wanted Mubarak to leave the country and to allow for a new era of democracy to take place. (Saeda, 2011) The Emergency Law and the lack of