Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt

Muhammad Hosni Said Mubarak (Arabic : محمد حسنى سيد مبارك ) commonly known as Hosni Mubarak, has been the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt since October 14, 1981.

He was appointed the Vice-President of the Republic after moving up the ranks of the Egyptian Air Force and succeeded President Anwar Sadat following the latter's assassination on 6 October 1981.

As President of Egypt, he is considered to be one of the most powerful leaders in the region. Under the 1971 Constitution of Egypt, President Mubarak has immense control over Egypt. He is even considered by many to be an autocrat, though a moderate one. He is known for his neutral stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and is frequently involved in negotiations between the two sides.

Early days

Mubarak was born on May 4, 1928 in Kafr-El Meselha , Menoufeya Governorate, Egypt. Upon completion of high school, he joined the Egyptian Military Academy , where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Military Sciences in 1948. In 1950, he joined the Air Force Academy and eventually earned a Bachelor's Degree in Aviation Sciences, graduating at the top of his class. Part of his pilot's training he received at the Soviet pilot training school in Frunze/Bishkek, in Soviet Kyrgyzstan. He then moved up the chain of command, holding the positions of pilot, instructor, squadron leader, and base commander. In 1964, he was appointed head of the Egyptian Military Delegation to the USSR.

In the years between 1967 and 1972, during the War of Attrition between Egypt and Israel, Mubarak was appointed Director of the Air Force Academy and Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Air Force. In 1972, he became Commander of the Air Force and Deputy Minister of Defence. In October 1973, following the October War, also known as Yom Kippur War and the 10th of Ramadan War, Mubarak was promoted to the rank of Air Marshall. In April 1975, he was appointed Vice-President of Egypt and, in 1978, he was selected as Vice-Chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP).

Egypt under Mubarak

Following the assassination of President Anwar Sadat at the hands of Islamists, Mubarak became President of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Chairman of the National Democratic Party. President Mubarak has been re-elected by majority votes in referenda for successive terms on three occasions: in 1987, 1993, and 1999. The results of the referenda are however of questionable validity. No one runs against the President due to a restriction in the Egyptian Constitution in which the People’s Assembly plays the main role in electing the President of the Republic.

Although Mubarak's popularity grew over time and his role as a leader of the Arab World has been solidified in the 1980s and 1990s, he started to lose support in Egypt by the mid-1990s. The breakthrough economic performance of the early 1990s was wasted with excessive government spending and the bloated public sector.

The dramatic drop in support for Mubarak increased with surfacing news about his son Alaa being extremely corrupt and favoured in government tenders and privatization. As Alaa started getting out of the picture by 2000, Mubarak’s second son Gamal started rising in the National Democratic Party and succeeded in getting a newer generation of neo-liberals into the party and eventually the government. Due to Gamal's increasing visibility and influence, rumours about him being groomed for the presidency became common. Nevertheless, this was publicly refuted by the president several times. Moreover, although the public generally likes Gamal Mubarak as a person, many believe that his succession would mean a hereditary pseudo-monarchy (see Family dictatorship).

In July 2004, Mubarak accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and the entire cabinet. Mubarak appointed Ahmed Nazif as the new Prime Minister. The new cabinet is generally viewed with optimism, and economic conditions are starting to improve considerably after a period of stagnation.

President Mubarak spoke out against the 2003 war on Iraq, arguing that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be tackled first. Egypt was a member of the allied coalition in the 1991 Gulf War and Egyptian foot soldiers were some of the first to land in Kuwait to evict Iraqi forces.

After increased domestic and international pressure for democratic reform in Egypt, on February 26 2005 Mubarak asked the largely rubber-stamp parliament to amend the constitution to allow multi-candidate presidential elections by September 2005. Previously, Mubarak secured his position by having himself nominated by parliament, then confirmed without opposition in a referendum. The September 2005 ballot will therefore be a multiple candidate election rather then a referendum, but the electoral institutions, security apparatus and most of the Egyptian media remain solidly in Mubarak's hands.

Posts

• Chairman of the G-15 (1998&2000)
• Re-elected for a fourth term of office (1999)
• Chairman of the Arab Summit since June (1996)
• Chairman of the Organization of African Unity "OAU"(1993 - 1994)
• Re-elected for a third term of office (1993)
• Chairman of the Organization of African Unity "OAU"(1989 - 1990)
• Re-elected for a second term of office (1987)
• President of the National Democratic Party (1982)
• President of the Republic (1981)
• Vice-President of the National Democratic Party (NDP) (1979)
• Vice-President of the Arab Republic of Egypt (1975)
• Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General (1974)
• Commander of the Air Force and Deputy Minister of War (1972)
• Chief of Staff of the Air Force (1969)
• Director of the Air Force Academy (1968)
• Commander of Cairo West Air Base (1964)
• Joined FROUNZ Military Academy , USSR (1964)
• Lecturer in Air Force Academy (1952 - 1959)

Family

Spouse: Suzanne Mubarak

Sons:

• Alaa
• Gamal

See also

• List of national leaders

External links

• Egyptian government page
• Another government page

Trivia

He was noted for his resemblance to British actor Rowan Atkinson when he first took power in Egypt (see Egypt under Mubarak