Hard to believe that you can survive six assassination attempts, but that is exactly what Hosni Mubarak has done. With the help of Egypt’s ruthlessly efficient security service, he has stayed atop the powder keg on the Nile for 27 years – and counting. Today the competing currents – Islamic fundamentalism, a neoliberal offensive, a restive working class, grinding poverty, and a majority of young people (54 per cent of the population is under 35) who are alienated by corruption and lack of opportunity – are growing sources of instability over which he manages to maintain his precarious grip. Of course it helps to have a State of Emergency (in effect now for 26 years) to fall back on.
Hosni Mubarak is the last in a line of Egyptian political bosses that have led the Arab world’s most populous country since Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power from a corrupt monarchy in the 1950s. Mubarak has held his post since 1983, making him the longest-serving head of state in modern Egyptian history. He comes from a tradition rooted in the Arab version of secular nationalism that was born at the time of post-World War Two anti-colonialism. Critics refer to this tradition as ‘Pharaonic’ because of its authoritarian style and intolerance of any opposition. But Mubarak is a pale imitation of his two predecessors, Nasser and Anwar Sadat.
