 Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt Muhammad Hosni Said Mubarak
( Arabic : محمد حسنى سيد مبارك ) (born May 4, 1928), usually known as Hosni Mubarak (Mubarak also spelled Moubarak),
has been the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt since October 14, 1981. He reached the Vice-Presidency after moving up the ranks of the Egyptian Air Force and succeeded Anwar Sadat following his assassination (6 October 1981).
As President of Egypt, he is considered to be one of the most powerful leaders in the region. Mubarak's control over Egypt has no boundaries; he is considered by many to be an autocrat, though a moderate one. He is known for his unbiased 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, Egypt. Upon completion of high school, he joined the Egyptian Military Academy, where he received his bachelor's degree in military sciences. In 1950, he joined the Air Force Academy and earned a bachelor's in aviation sciences, graduating at the top of his class. He then went 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 to 1972, during the War of Attrition between Egypt and Israel, Mubarak was appointed Director of the Airforce Academy and Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Air Force. In 1972, he became Commander of the Air Force and Deputy Minister for Military Affairs. In October 1973, following the October War, a.k.a Ramadan War or Yom Kippur War, he was promoted to the rank of Air Marshall. In April 1975, he was named vice-president of Egypt and, in 1978, he was selected to serve as vice chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Egypt under Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt 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 that requires that a referundum be administered to the country where they either approve or disapprove of the current President. If the results of the referendum indicate disapproval, elections are then called.
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 corrupt and favored in government tenders and privatization. As Alaa started getting out of the picture by the year 2000, his other son Gamal started rising in the National Democratic Party and succeeded in getting a newer generation of liberals in the party and eventually the government. Due to Gamal's increasing visibility and influence, rumors 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 the Egyptian cabinet, and appointed a new Prime Minister. Egyptians are generally viewing the new cabinet with optimism, and economic conditions are starting to improve considerably after a period of stagnation.
He 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.
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