Egypt: Alaa Mubarak for President?

Several names have been thrown in the pool of candidates for Egypt's 2011 presidential elections; In September 2005 Ayman Nour of Al Ghad Party and No'man Goma'a of New Wafd Partynominated themselves against President Hosni Mubarak. Nour was charged with fraud and Goma'a was accused of insanity! Since 2000, Gamal Hosni Mubarak has the been groomed to be his father's successor and some people wondered Why Not? Rumor has it that Omar Soliman, Chief of the Egyptian General Intelligence Services, is an eligible presidential candidate. In June 2009, a blog and Facebook group were dedicated to support him. In September 2009, a Coptic lawyer threw the hat in for the Presidential run. Today Egyptians want Alaa Mubarak - Hosni Mubarak's eldest son - for president!

As a business tycoon, Alaa Mubarak has always maintained a low profile. Last May, his 12-year-old son - Mohamed - died suddenly and Egyptians sympathized highly with the bereaved father, mother, grand mother, and grand father. Zeinobia covered the funeral saying:

President Mubarak did not attend the funeral … Alaa Mubarak was crying during the prayer and the funeral. It is hard for any father to be in this situation … Seriously I feel sad … I want to hint out that across the internet where the news was published the comments came to prove how great the Egyptian people are in these times.

Before the 14th of November Egypt-Algeria match there was a lot of tension for the encounter was to determine which of the two teams would qualify to next year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa. But instead of responding to the Egyptian-Algerian actor Ahmed Mekky's wake up call for unity, peace, and tolerance, Egypt's loss on November 18th in Sudan proved that it was much more than football!

The Mubarak brothers were in Sudan to cheer for the national team and, along with the rest of the Egyptian hooligans, they were assaulted by Algerian hooligans. Upon his return Gamal Mubarak was totally silent but Alaa Mubarak made two very angry live calls.

The first call was on Dream TV with Khaled Al Ghandour.

On this call, Zeinobia wrote:

We have reached the point of no return as Alaa Mubarak has opened his fire on the Algerian federation , the Algerian fans and the Algerian thugs in Sudan not to mention the Algerian press and the Algerian Ambassador. “The Algerian press attacked him and his brother unfairly if I may say , it is a normal thing that they would support their country’s national team for God Sake !!”
Speaking about Alaa himself , well he is more human and more simple than his pale brother. There is a huge difference. If you do not know who he is , you will think that he is normal Egyptian football angry fan.

His second call was on national TV (Al Beit Beitak). Once againZeinobia said about his second strike:

It seems that Alaa Mubarak has a lot to say from that bloody night in Khartoum that left so shaken and so furious , last night he did it again and called a live night news show ; this time it was the official Al Beit Batik.

This time it was much long , he was ballistic and you have something interesting quotes more than the previous time with his famous line “ They were treating us as if we are Jews killing people in Gaza”

On Twitter, Sandmonkey and Pakinam Amer had questions:

On Facebook, the reactions varied from extreme sarcasm to extreme endorsement as status updates, fan pages, and groupswere created overnight in support of the new national hero.

Ibrahim Eissa sang Alaa Mubarak's praises in his article [for Al Dostour Newspaper] 12 Reasons why Egyptians love Alaa Mubarak

Ahmed Zidan: We nominate Alaa Mubarak for President because he is sexier than Jimmy [Gamal]

Spring wrote a cynical note about the elite that ended in:

خطوة علاء مبارك الجريئة هدمت تابو النخبة، سيدرك الناس في قصر العروبة أن النزول إلى الشعب يأتي عندما تلبس سويتر و تتكلم في التليفون. سيأتي عندما تنفعل و تتخانق و تشتم. و سيأتي عندما تفكر كبواب عمارة، كفاعل، كساعي، كفلاح ذي يد خشنة. و ليس كنخبوي تلقى تعليمه بلغة غير العربية. أو كنخبوي يكتب في الجرايد أو في بلوجه أو في يومياته، و الاكثر من ذلك، لا يكتب إلا عندما ينفعل، أو عندما يكون حزينا. الاكتشاف الأكثر إذهالا، أنك يمكن أن تكون نخبويا يفعل كل ذلك، و أيضا تكون محبوبا من الناس، بفعل بسيط للغاية، كأن تلبس سويتر و تتكلم في التليفون

Alaa Mubarak's daring move hit the core of the sacredness of being an elitist. People at the Presidential Palace would realize that connecting with the people comes when you put on an ordinary sweater, call live on TV, get angry, curse and play street-wise. The sophisticated air of an elitist who does not speak Arabic or communicates with people behind a screen or a pen will get you nowhere; you have to think like a doorman, a handyman, a messenger, or a hardworking farmer. What's truly amazing about all of this is that you could be an elitist who still manages to put on a sweater and be popular among the commoners.

The Arabist was furious at Alaa Mubarak's shamelessness and asks what about Egyptians?

Alaa Mubarak, denounces Algeria as a “country ruled by generals and pashas!”

Mourad thinks it's all a political manouver

إختفى جمال مبارك تماما من الساحة الإعلامية و لم يظهر إطلاقاً
فالجميع مشحونين ضده و ضد فكرة التوريث
فكيف يقدم النظام الحزب الوطني للشعب مرة أخرى، بشكل جديد، بغض النظر عن المُرشح من هذا الحزب؟؟
قام النظام بإدخال دم جديد للإعلام، وهو علاء…علاء مبارك
فما أبعاد مكالمات علاء المتكررة للبرامج التليفزيونية ، و لأول مرة في خلال يومين؟
علاء مبارك خارج السياسة و خارج الحزب الوطني، و عندما يقوم بتجييش الرأي العام

Gamal Mubarak had no media presence what so ever because the National Democratic Party is fully aware that people are angry at the thought of succession; so how do they go about it? They presented a new face … another Mubarak! Alaa Mubarak is not affiliated with the NDP and is not into politics; when he spoke he used the tone of an angry Egyptian citizen and managed to mobilize the public!

Nawara Negm wonders where this Alaa Mubarak came from:

هو مين علاء مبارك عشان يطلع بكلام اهوج شعبوي ارعن يفاقم لنا ازمة مع بلد من قبل ما هو يتولد بقرون طويلة واحنا وهم واحد وح نفضل واحد من بعد ما هو يموت ولحد يوم القيامة؟ هو مين عشان يطلع يتكلم على شعب ويقول ح اديله على دماغه؟ هو مين عشان ينفي العروبة عن الشعب الجزائري ويقول بس يكلمونا عربي الاول؟ هو مين عشان يقول العروبة انتهت؟ صفته ايه عشان يقول الجزائريين ما يجوش مصر والمصريين ما يروحوش الجزائر؟ مين هو عشان يدي فرمان زي ده؟ وبيشتغل ايه عشان يهيج الناس ويحرضهم على التظاهر ولا وكمان بيديهم تعليمات يعملوا ايه في المظاهرة؟ هو مين عشان يعمل لنا مشكلة مع دولة حيوية، طول عمرها حيوية بالنسبة لنا وح تفضل حيوية، واحنا حيويين بالنسبة لها وما يستغنوش عننا

Who is this Alaa Mubarak to go on TV and talk in such an impulsive irresponsible manner? His emotionally charged words will only add fuel to the fire and offend a country that has been our ally ages before he was born and will continue to be our ally even after he dies and until dooms day. Who is he to attack people like that? Who is he to deny Algerians their Arabism? Who is he to mock their Arabic? Who is he to deny them entering our country and stop us from entering theirs? What's his authority to push people into demonstrating? Who is that person who will rupture bond between two countries that have always been vital for one another?

Moftah quoted Alaa Mubarak's statement:

علاء مبارك : لن أقبل أي اعتذار من أي جزائري حتى لو كان بوتفليقة

Alaa Mubarak: I will not accept any apologies from any Algerian even if he was Bouteflika

Kareem El Behiery of Egyworkers quoted political analysts saying:

ظهور علاء مبارك فى التليفزيون محاولة لامتصاص الغضب دون تورط رسمى

Alaa Mubarak's media appearance is a mere attempt to let steam out without any official implications

And in another post Kareem El Behiery wrote:

نيويورك تايمز تتهم مصر باستغلال المباراة سياسيا قالت إن علاء مبارك بدا وكأنه يدعو البلاد لإعلان الحرب

The New York Times accuses Egypt to politicize the match to serve its agenda; Alaa Mubarak sounded as though he was calling for a war.

Jack Shenker of Chatoyant Crumbs wrote:

Mubarak adds fuel to the fire as football riots spread
President vows to defend Egyptians abroad as violence spreads across Cairo and Algiers
Egyptian regime accused of whipping up nationalist fervour for political gain

Alaa Mubarak called live for the third time on TV and pulled the “I am a provoked Muslim” card

Alaa Mubarak with Amr Adib

Nawara Negm wants Alaa Mubarak to be arrested in the name of the Egyptian emergency law:

يا مسلم، اساس الاسلام العدل والمساواة، والعيال بتوع ستة ابريل اللي ما عملوش حاجة في الناس غير ان قالوا لهم ما تنزلوش من البيت، اتقبض عليهم واتبهدلوا واتمرمطوا واتعذبوا ونصهم اتجنن، والنص التاني بيشاور عقله، واسراء طلعت تقول حرمت يا بوجي، بس عشان قالت للناس اقعدوا في البيت.امال اللي حرض الناس على النزول للشارع في اول مرة، ثم اكد على اهمية المظاهرات في تاني مكالمة، ده اسمه ايه؟خليك حقاني، اللي سرى على اسراء عبد الفتاح يسري عليك. ده قانون يا استاذ علاء، وبما انك بتقول انك مواطن وفقط، فالقانون يمشي عليك، واحنا تحت قانون الطوارئ، وتحريض الناس على التظاهر ضد قانون الطوارئ، ويا مسلم، الناس سواسية كأسنان المشط. وانت مسلم، وما بتخافش غير من ربك: إن الله يأمر بالعدل والإحسان وإيتاء ذي القربى وينهى عن الفحشاء والمنكر والبغي، يعظكم لعلكم تذكرون.

العدل: انه يتم تطبيق قانون الطوارئ عليك بوصفك محرض على التظاهر

You who call yourself a Muslim! The basis of Islam is fairness and equality! On April 6, 2008 a group of young Egyptians called for a silent protest against soaring prices; they just asked people to stay home! They were arrested under the emergency law and they were tortured, beaten, and humiliated! Half of them were scared out of their wits and the rest are almost there! Esraa Abd El Fattah was arrested for asking people to stay home … be fair, Mr. Alaa … what do you think should happen to a man to literally asked people to express their rage in the first call and highlighted the importance of demonstrations in his second call?
Since you claim to have called as an Egyptian citizen - not as the President's son - then the law that sent Esraa to prison should apply to you as well! Since you insist that you are a Muslim and that you only fear your creator, and since it is clearly stated that he who emotionally charges the public and instigates demonstrations should be arrested under the emergency law .. then you are no exception to the law!

Khaled El Henawy: My Biggest fear: We will start loving Alaa and Gamal Mubarak:) This way Gamal might win the coming elections without the need for monkey business