Hosni Mubarak resigns as president

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.

Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the armed forces.

Suleiman's short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well by pro-democracy campaigners who attended protests across the country on Friday.

The crowd in Tahrir chanted "We have brought down the regime", while many were seen crying, cheering and embracing one another.

"Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation ... today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world," our correspondent at Tahrir Square reported, following the announcement.

Pro-democracy activists in the Egyptian capital had marched on the presidential palace and state television buildings on Friday, the 18th consecutive day of protests.
Hosni Mubarak resigns as president - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Salute to Egyptian People and big slap on the face of all the tyrannys of middle east and especially Saudi Arabia and Jahil Mullahs of Saudi Arabia and AlAzhar University Cairo who gave Fatwa agianst the Protestors that Protest are forbidden in Islam....God bless You Egyptians.....

__________________
Democracy is the only way forward.

hats off to egyptian people for such a persistent and peaceful sit-in....we pray all the best wishes for them, and hope that they get the people government which should really be the govt. of the people, for the people and by the people in a true sense.....there are many similarities of situation within region's other countries....so what do you think who is going to be the next packing his luggage??

Hats off for Egyptian people.
Congratulation to you brothers.
I hope Islamic world has started getting up from slumber.
May Allah be our Guardian.

that s really a fantastic news told by brother i saloute to people on their 18 days protest... and hope for teir brigh future...
but i hav seen one good thing in people of p[akistan that they start to protest against dictatorship in less than 20 yaers ... but what the stamina have the middle east people nad Arab that they hav aristocratic govt of since 60 years long and they r slleeping and living their lives like slaves....
this type of revoloutions we hav taken three or 4 times we need more than it.....just to change the system nt of faces...
that was my own thinking if some one dislike i sorry to him in advavnce///.....

regards
kashif kamboh

Once again bliss has make her nest in Egypt, people got internal relief as almost30 years long dictatorship reach to its end. Jubilous expressions on their faces.
Once again its proved unity is much powerful than any individual's autocracy.
My heartiest wishes and admires for Egyptian's.....!

__________________
Fortune Favours the Brave....!

HAVING a revolution is easy; not much more difficult, in fact, than having a baby. Take some moonlight, add some sweet nothings, a dollop of passion and that’s amore.

The tricky part, to continue the metaphor, is not having the baby but taking care of it. Babies are born helpless and must be nurtured for a long time before they can become useful members of society. The same goes for societies birthed by revolutions.

I mention all of this because of the breathless excitement in some quarters about Pakistan being pregnant with revolutionary potential, just hovering on the brink of becoming another Tunisia. Give me a break. Listen up people: we already had a revolution. In fact, we’ve had several. Revolutions don’t solve problems: they make solutions possible.

After you have had your revolution you still need to go out and do the hard work. Streets need to be swept, crooks need to be put in jail and trains need to run. Otherwise, you will wind up in the same position as before — poor, miserable and yearning for a revolution.

There is a popular self-help book titled Don’t sweat the small stuff ... and it’s all small stuff. Since I haven’t read the tome, I can’t comment on whether it fixes personal problems or not. What I can tell you is that the big-picture approach doesn’t work when it comes to governance because good governance is all about the small stuff.

To take a different metaphor, good governance is like water-proofing a boat. You have to make sure that each and every joint is properly sealed because if you leave even a single weak spot, water will inevitably and invariably seep through.

The problem though with sweating the small stuff is that it takes time. Each incremental victory has to be patiently accumulated and added to the list of all other insights carefully gleaned over the years. The only way to get to good governance then is through a constant process of trial and error: nobody gets to good governance overnight.

There is a story, probably apocryphal, of the visitor to Wimbledon who inquired as to how the grass on Centre Court was so perfect. “It’s easy,” was the reply. “Cut and roll. Then repeat for a hundred years.” Good governance works much the same way.

It is precisely because good governance relies on a million tiny victories that continuity of policy is important. When we had our last great glorious revolution in 2007-08, the newly elected regimes thought that the best way to demonstrate their democratic credentials was to throw out all the work done by the Musharraf regime, irrespective of whether the work was good or bad. And so multiple babies got discarded along with the bathwater.

The best example of this short-sighted approach is the decision to ditch the local gov ernment laws. Devolution is a complicated subject but broadly speaking, there are few people who disagree with the merits of the proposition that governance decisions need to be made closer to home. The Musharraf approach was valid in theory but flawed in execution, a fact which was hugely hyped by opponents of devolution.

However, major legislative changes always take time to work themselves out. The truth of the matter is that by the time the local government laws were suspended they were working reasonably well. The main reason why the local government laws were suspended is not because they were flawed but because neither our rulers nor their henchmen were inclined to share their powers. As such, they both found it convenient to get rid of the local government laws.

Unfortunately, the only thing worse than what our newly elected governments have done is what the discontented propose, beseeching the army to step back in. I concede that our newly provincial and federal governments have been both incompetent and luridly corrupt in equally outstanding measure. But that is a cross we have to bear. We do not have the option of going back to square one over and over again.

The standard response to this argument is that unless some strongman/hero steps in to save the day there will be nothing left to save. I don’t buy that argument if only because it is self-reinforcing. Dictatorship not only destroys the institutions that democracy needs to survive but weakens the prospect of accountability.

In other words, if democracy is a temporary aberration then your elected representatives have no reason not to be corrupt. That corruption in turn fuels the demand for intervention which, when it finally arrives, only reinforces the belief of the rational poli tician that money needs to be made in a hurry because there is little chance of a long run at the helm.

Obviously, one answer to our problems is for a philosopher king to take over: unfortunately, the Pakistan Army seems unlikely to produce one. We are therefore stuck with the reality that every dictator who comes in will eventually lose his way, even those who arrive with the best of intentions. As Lord Acton helpfully pointed out, power tends to corrupt. That tendency holds as true for Pakistan as for anywhere else.

Any idiot can lead a revolution — and many often do. What we need is somebody to take care of the one we’ve already had. ¦ The writer is a Supreme Court advocate. The views expressed do not represent those of his firm.

__________________
What is this?

Congratulation to all Egyptian people.You are standing victorious today.You have defeated tyranny,oppression and high handed rule of a dictator.
You have shown to the world that Muslims can stand for their cause when ever tyranny hits them hard or when oppression makes their life living hell.

Muslim Brotherhood who was banned and labeled as terrorist organization has shown to the world that these movements have nothing to do with violence.They are there to support the just cause of their people.This organization has truely proved the worth of its name.Although I'm Pakistani but success of Muslims any where looks our own.You people have beautifully enhanced the image of Muslims.God bless the Egyptian people for their successful movement against an oppressive dictator.

I just wish some thing like it also become possible here.We dont want dictators but we also dont want corrupt democracy.We want justice and corruption free Pakistan.We want genuine sovereignty not American lordship over us.I hope some day we will be free.God bless our country.

All thumbs up and hats off for a consistent LEADERLESS struggle (probably a new history).But is there still a chance of conspiracy as Hosni handed over power to the military whose supporter is USA....?

Finally people gathered in Tahreer square won their cause to send hosni back from power..it is the victory of the people and right show of the power.The ideal models of politics alway encourage the resistance to a regime which is not actually beneficial to people.what to do with a democratic government if it is not supportive and fostering the progress of people the real source of power....Ab Raj Kary Ge Khalqy Khuda

__________________
ALI DA Malang