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Feb 12, 2011

Egypt, Tunisia uprisings to have a domino effect in the Middle East

 History has been created  by the Egyptian people who protested  for 18 days  demanding not less than Hosni Mubarak resignation .Tunisians and Egyptians have been able to overthrow their respective  governments.Having seen the positive results ,these uprisings  will certainly have a domino effect in the middle east  region .


Mubarak, one of the longest serving rulers
in the Arab world, bowed to vociferous demands of protesters calling for an end to his rule that began Oct 14, 1981 when he took over after the assassination of president Anwar el-Sadat at a military parade in Cairo.




Egyptian people got inspiration by the month -long revolution in   which led  to the change  of a 23-year old military regime. Weeks of unrest toppled Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Demonstrations sparked  on January 25,2011 across Egypt following a month-long protest in Tunisia that led to the ouster of the north African president Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali.

 Protests in Cairo and other Egyptian cities began following an internet campaign against poverty and unemployment.


When deposed president Hosni Mubarak announced his resignation and fled to the safety of his family’s seaside palace at Sharm el-Sheikh Friday night, he left Egypt’s government in the hands of the Armed Forces Supreme Command.
The country is now under the control of 75-year-old Defence Minister Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi and will be ruled by a council of generals in what amounts to a return to the model of military rule Egypt adopted when the armed forces deposed King Farouk in 1952.

Under the constitution that governed Mubarak’s presidency, he should have been succeeded as president by the speaker of parliament and new presidential elections should be held within 60 days.

People in Palestine, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria, Lebanon, Syria and Iran greeted with fanfare the victory of people in Egypt by fireworks, embracing and greeting each other with joy, but there was a fears  in the corridors of powers in most of the countries.
  Most of the key Arab states including Saudi Arabia,Libya, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain which are monarchies and sheikhdoms are yet to respond to events in Egypt .

Like in Jordan ,King Abdullah  has sworn in a new cabinet after nationwide protests .

Thousands of Jordanians protested  over the past five weeks, demanding better employment prospects and cuts in foods and fuel costs.

The protesters also demand more say in the political process and to be able to elect their prime minister. At present, King Abdullah appoints and dismisses them.

Thousands of Algerians are preparing to defy their government with demonstrations in the capital and elswhere scheduled to take place on February 12, 2011.

Authorities in Algeria, where police have been mobilising in large numbers ahead of marches planned  on Saturday in the capital Algiers and the second city of Oran, were also quiet.

Opposition groups in Algeria are protesting the curtailment of civil liberties under a 19-year-old state of emergency, as well as high levels of unemployment and inequality.

Many ordinary Algerians applauded Mubarak's departure.The demonstrations on Feb 12 are being organized by a coalition of opposition parties, NGOs, and independent trade unions under an entity called Coordination Nationale pour le Changement et la Démocratie or CNCD.

The CNCD was formed   on January 21, 2011 in the aftermath of the December riots that led to five deaths and 800 wounded.
The CNCD’s major agenda is to  call for a change  in the system amid what it calls a “political vacuum that could lead to an explosion of the Algerian society.” The organizers also announced that demonstrations will also take place in Europe and in North America to support the demands of the Algerians back home.


 





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