Egypt: Alaa Mubarak for President? · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

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 Party nominated 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 again Zeinobia 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 groups were created overnight in support of the new national hero.
Spring wrote a cynical note about the elite that ended in:
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
Nawara Negm wonders where this Alaa Mubarak came from:
Moftah quoted Alaa Mubarak's statement:
Kareem El Behiery of Egyworkers quoted political analysts saying:
And in another post Kareem El Behiery wrote:
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:
العدل: انه يتم تطبيق قانون الطوارئ عليك بوصفك محرض على التظاهر