Introduction
Revolution is an attempt to overthrow an existing form of power or organizational structure that take a short period of time. They vary in terms of methods, period, and motivating ideas. Hosni Mubarak became the president of Egypt in 1981 after the assassination of President El Sadat and ruled until 2011. He became the longest serving president in Egypt history. He used National Democratic Party. He used authoritarian rule. He won five consecutive times with majority of the votes (The New York Times 1).
Millions of protesters began campaigns of non-violent resistance on 25th January 2011, to a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience, and labor strikes to overthrow the regime of their president Hosni Mubarak. They were inspired by the successful revolution in Tunisia (Dinga 461).
The people complained of police violence, state of emergency laws, lack of freedom of speech and free elections, unmanageable corruption, unemployment, food price inflation, and low minimum wages. Revolution in Egypt has had positive impacts on the country since changes were done to withdraw the negative impacts of the rule of their president (Dinga 462).
Causes of revolution
Emergency laws extended the power of police, constitution, and legalization of censorship. Individuals were being imprisoned without trials. Non-governmental political activities and unregistered financial donations were forbidden. The government rejected some education centers, mosques, and denied the freedom of the media. The government argued that these laws were meant to avoid the threat of terrorism in the country (The New York Times 1).
There was increasing levels of unemployment and reliance on subsidized goods. Population grew from 30million in 1966 to 79million in 2008 with majority living below poverty line. The people were densely populated in a way that they could not provide enough food for themselves. Moreover, the youths remained unemployed (The New York Times 1).
In 2010, human rights organization estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people in detention without trial. The police had excessive power to torture to extract information or confessions from people or suspects. Between 1993 and 2007, 167 deaths occurred and 567 tortured by the police. They created a very bad reputation to the people since they were being used by the government to carry out detentions and mysterious murders (The New York Times 1).
There was corruption in the government elections and officials. Mubarak won five times with the majority votes and any opposing candidate would be imprisoned for example, Ayman Nour. Voters’ turnout became extremely low due to the lack of trust of the corrupt representational system. The powerful businessmen in the NDP party accumulated a lot of wealth from the public funds (Kinzer 1).
Negative impacts of revolution
840 people died and 6000 were reported injured. On 11th February Mubarak stepped down and the supreme council of the armed forces took over for six months before the elections were made (Dinga 445).
The economic conditions became poor due to the government conditions and reforms limiting the attraction of foreign investors into the country that would improve its economic conditions by creating job opportunities and creating competition in the market to lower the price of goods and services. There was also low level of education leading to low development in the country and consequently low living standards of the people (The New York Times 1).
Although the constitution allowed the freedom of speech, the government sanctioned home raids, tortured, arrested, and penalized very high fines to the reporters and bloggers that tried to criticize or oppose the government. Internet was also forbidden to limit communication between the protest groups. The government officials who tried to fight corruption in the government were accused of fraud and harassed (Kinzer 1).
Positive impacts of revolution
The government officials who had wasted public funds were detained and their accounts frozen. Mubarak stepped down and was accused of committing murder to protesters and if convicted he would face death penalty. All the innocent people detained with no trials were released from prison. The power of the military was also reduced to the point of a genuine democracy (Kinzer 1).
Revolution also saved Neolithic treasure that lies along the ancient lake shoreline from corruption. Mubarak had given 2.8 square kilometers to property developer Amer Group to use it for tourists to his own benefit (The New York Times 1).
Changes That Occurred After the Revolution
Freedom of the social media and online services has enhanced communication in the country and the people are able to fight against the government issues that oppress them. The country has improved relationship with the foreign investors to boost their economy and to create job opportunities.
The women have acquired freedom of participating in the public affairs and to seek education. The Islamic and secularisms have been able to express their religious matters and strengths through dialogues and discourse (The New York Times 1).
The land grabbed from the people was given back to them to improve their food supply; to reduce reliance on subsidized goods (The New York Times 1).
Conclusion
Revolution has brought justice to Egypt after a long period of suffering. The people had become tired of the authoritative regime of Mubarak. The protesters were encouraged by the success of revolution of Tunisia. The country has been a good example of other countries that face problems with their leaders.
Communication is very important during protests and leadership to create organization. It is very important for leaders to respond to the needs of their people to reduce protests that might lead to death and injury of many people. The country has overcome political difficulties but it’s yet to overcome economic difficulties.
Works Cited
Dinga, John. America’s irresistible attraction: Beyond the green card. Trafford City: Trafford Publishing, 2011. Print.
Kinzer, Stephen. The Egypt revolutions coming face-off. Web.
The New York Times. Egypt news- the protests of 2011. Web.