degree on preserving Egypt's security and stability and on not taking it and its .... I call on both houses of Parliament to discuss the amendment of articles 76 and 77 of ... origin, misfortunes, or justifications, it is extremely embarrassing and ...
Appendix (A) In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Brotherly citizens, I talk to you in a delicate circumstance which imposes on all of us a serious and sincere stand with the self, pursuing the soundness of intention and the good of the homeland. I have followed first thing first the demonstrators and what they asked and called for. I insisted in my instructions to the government on giving the opportunity to them in order for the citizens to express their opinions and demands. I also followed the attempts of some to mount the wave of these demonstrations and market their slogans. I deeply regret the death of innocent victims that they occasioned from among the demonstrators and the police forces. The government has committed itself to implementing these instructions, which was clear in the way the police forces behaved with our youth. They took the initiative to protect them at the beginning out of respect for their right to demonstrating peacefully as long as this took place within the limits of the law and before these demonstrations turn into riots which would threaten public order and impede the citizen’s normal course of daily life. These demonstrations and the protesting sit-ins that we witnessed in the last few years could not have been possible if not for the large margin of freedom of opinion, speech, the press, and other freedoms which were made possible by reform initiatives in favor of the sons of the people, and if not for the unprecedented interaction which was witnessed by Egypt for the forces of the community. As the president of the republic and as per the prerogatives which the constitution invests in me as an arbiter between the powers, I repeatedly emphasized, and I will keep repeating this, that sovereignty is for the people. I will always stick to my right to practice the freedom of opinion and expression as long as this happens according to legitimacy and the respect of the law. A thin thread separates freedom from anarchy. Although I am so biased to the freedom of citizens to give their opinions, I am equally keen to the same degree on preserving Egypt’s security and stability and on not taking it and its people into a dangerous slide, which would threaten public order and social peace without anyone knowing its extent and repercussions upon the present and the future of the homeland. Egypt is the biggest country in its region in terms of its demographic importance, its role, its weight, and its impact. It is a country of institutions, ruled by the Constitution and the law. We must beware of many examples that surround us which caused their people to slide into anarchy and relapse, with no democracy fulfilled and no stability preserved. Brotherly citizens, these demonstrations have come to express legitimate expectations for further democracy and more speed in the efforts of besieging unemployment, improving the standards of living, combating poverty, and facing up to corruption. I am aware of these legitimate expectations for the people, and I do know very well the extent of their worries and sufferings. I never was one day disconnected from that, and I work for that daily. However, the problems that we face and the objectives that we endeavor to reach were not fulfilled by violence; they were not made by anarchy, but could only be fulfilled and made by national dialogue and serious loyal work. The youth is dear to Egypt, which looks forward to them so that they can make its future, and takes them away from those who would infiltrate them in order to endeavor to spread anarchy, loot public and private property, set fires, and destroy what we have built. My conviction is immutable to pursue political, economic, and social reform for a
free and democratic Egyptian society, which embraces the values of the times and opens up onto the world. I have leant, and will remain forever biased, toward the poor from among the sons of the people, believing that the economy is too big and dangerous to leave to economists alone. I was keen on determining the policies of the government for economic reform so that they would not be implemented quicker than the sons of the people can stand, or that this would increase their sufferings. Our program to besiege unemployment and afford further educational, health, and housing services to the youth and citizens will be conditioned by the protection of the stability and security of Egypt as a homeland for a developed and deep-rooted people who would not put their acquisitions and hopes for the future in the direction of the wind. What happened during these demonstrations surpasses the looting, anarchy, and arson to a far-reaching plan to shake up stability and assault legitimacy. I urge our youth and every male and female Egyptian in consideration for the good of the homeland to protect their homeland and defend their acquisitions. Setting fire to property and assaulting public and private property will not fulfill the expectations of Egypt and its sons. These expectations for a better future will materialize through awareness, dialogue, and seriousness for the sake of the homeland. Brotherly citizens, I am speaking to you not only as the president of the republic but also as an Egyptian who is fatefully assuming responsibility for this homeland and who spent his life for it in war and peace times. We surmounted together difficult times before, and were victorious over them when we faced them up as one homeland, one people, and when we knew our path and our orientation and we determined the goals we were striving for. The road to reform which we have opted for is irrevocable and a point of no return. We will follow it in new steps which emphasize our respect for the independency of the judiciary and its regulations; new steps toward further democracy and freedom to the citizens; new steps to besiege unemployment, raise the standard of living, and develop services; new steps to stand by the side of the poor and low-income people. It is our commitments and objectives that will determine our fate and our future. There is no way in front of us to fulfill them except through awareness, work, and resistance. We will protect what we have realized and build on it and care for the future of our homeland in our minds and our consciences. The events of today and the last few days cast in the hearts of the majority of the sons of the people fear for Egypt and its future. They inquired about the escalation of violence, anarchy, devastation, and destruction. I am assuming my first responsibility to preserve the security of the homeland and citizens. I will not allow that, I will not allow for this fear to get hold of our citizens and for this inquiry to throw its shadows on our becoming and future. I have asked the government to tender its resignation today, and I will assign to the new government as of tomorrow clear and determined assignments to decisively deal with the priorities of the current stage. I say anew that I will not be negligent in making any decisions that would protect the security and safety of every male and female Egyptian. And I will defend Egypt’s security and stability and the safety of its people. This is the responsibility and loyalty upon which I swore to God and to the homeland to protect. May God protect Egypt and its people and guide its steps, and peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
Appendix (B) In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Brotherly citizens, I talk to you in difficult times which test Egypt and its people and nearly drift it and them away to the unknown. The homeland is subject to grave events and severe tests, which started with noble youth and citizens who practiced their right to peaceful demonstration in order to express their worries and expectations. Soon, they were exploited by those who endeavored to spread anarchy, resort to violence and confrontation, and leap on and assault constitutional legitimacy. Those demonstrations turned from a high-ranking and developed phenomenon to practice the freedom of opinion and expression into desolating confrontations which were manipulated and dominated by political forces. These endeavored to seek escalation and pour oil on fire, and targeted homeland security and stability, causing excitement and incitement events, looting, arson, roadblocks, assault on the facilities of the state and public and private property, and invading some diplomatic missions on Egyptian soil. We have been living together painful days, and what mostly hurts our hearts is fear which took hold of the great majority of Egyptians, overwhelmed by uneasiness, worry, and obsessions about what the future would hold in store for them, their relatives, their families, and the future and destiny of their country. The events of the last few days impose on us all – people and leadership – the choice between anarchy and stability and set in front of us new conditions and a different Egyptian reality which our people and our armed forces should cope with with a maximum of wisdom and observance of the interests of Egypt and its sons. Brotherly citizens, I took the initiative to form a new government with new priorities and assignments which would be responsive to the demands of our youth and their mission. I have commissioned the deputy president of the republic to hold a dialogue with all the political forces on all raised issues for political and democratic reform and constitutional and legislative amendments in order to fulfill these legitimate demands and recover peace, security, and stability. However, some among the political forces turned down this invitation for dialogue, sticking to their special agendas without taking into consideration the current delicate circumstance for Egypt and its people. Regarding the rejection of my call for dialogue, which still holds, I direct my talk today directly to the sons of the people, including its farmers and workers, its Muslims and Copts, its elderly and youth, and to each male and female Egyptian in the countryside and cities of the homeland, however spacious its land and districts are, to tell them that I have never been a seeker of power or authority. The people know the difficult circumstances in which I assumed this responsibility and what I have rendered to the homeland in times of war and peace. I am also a man of the sons of our armed forces, and it is not in my nature to betray faithfulness or abandon duties and responsibility. My first responsibility now is to recover the security and stability of the homeland in order to realize a peaceful transfer of power in atmospheres which protect Egypt and Egyptians and give the opportunity for whoever the people will choose to take power in the next presidential elections. I say earnestly and notwithstanding the current circumstance that I did not intend to run as a candidate for a new presidential term. I have spent enough time in my life at the service of Egypt and its people. However, I am now very keen on putting an end to my service for the sake of the homeland in such a way that it is entrusted while Egypt is respected,
peaceful, and stable and in preservation of legitimacy and respect for the Constitution. I say in clear expressions that I will work during the months left of my current term toward making the necessary decisions and taking the necessary procedures for a peaceful transfer of power in accordance with what the Constitution entitles me to. I call on both houses of Parliament to discuss the amendment of articles 76 and 77 of the Constitution in view of changing the conditions of candidacy for the presidency of the republic, adopting limited presidential terms. In order for both houses of Parliament to discuss these constitutional amendments and accompanying legislative amendments to the laws which complement the Constitution, I request Parliament to commit without any delay to the judgment of the judiciary on contestations about the last legislative elections. I will follow up on the assignments of the new government so that the people’s legitimate demands are fulfilled and so that its performance comes to express the people and their expectations for political, social, and economic reform, to provide work opportunities, to combat poverty, and to realize social justice. At the same time, I assign the police to perform its role, which is at the service of the people, and to protect the citizens with honesty, honor, faithfulness, and total respect for their rights, freedoms, and dignity. Likewise, I request the control and judicial powers to immediately take the necessary procedures to continue pursuing the corrupt and investigate those who were causal in the security relaxation events witnessed by Egypt and those who were responsible for looting, arson, and the terrorization of peaceful people. This is my commitment to the people during the months left of my current term. I pray God to make me successful in being faithful to this so that I can end my service to Egypt and its people in accordance with what pleases God, the homeland, and its sons. Brotherly citizens, Egypt will emerge from the current events stronger than it was, more confident, cohesive, and stable. Our people will emerge from them more aware of what would realize their interests, and more determined not to give up on their destiny and future. Husni Mubarak, who is speaking to you today, is proud to have spent long years in the service of Egypt and its people. This dear homeland is my homeland as much as it is the homeland of every male and female Egyptian. I was raised in it, fought for it, and defended its territory, sovereignty, and interests. On its soil, I will die. History will judge me and the others for what we have done. The homeland remains but individuals perish, and the deeply-rooted Egypt is eternal. Its flag and faithfulness will shift within the hands of its sons. We should guarantee the fulfillment of that in pride, highness, and dignity generation after generation. May God protect this homeland and its people, and peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you. Appendix (C) In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Brotherly citizens and sons, male and female youth of Egypt, I address myself today to the youth of Egypt in Tahrir Square and those on its extensive soil. I address myself to you all with talk from the bottom of my heart – a talk of the father to his sons and daughters. I tell you that I am proud of you as symbols for a new generation of Egyptians who is calling for change to the better and sticking to it, and dreaming of the future and making it. I tell you before everything that the blood of your martyrs and wounded will not be for nothing. I assure you that I will not be negligent in severely and firmly
punishing those who caused them. I will make accountable those who were involved in crimes against our youth, inflicting on them the maximal deterrent judgments allowed by the law. I say to the families of those innocent victims that I have been extremely aggrieved about them as much as you were pained. My heart was as much pained as yours. I tell you that my responsiveness to your voices, your messages, and your demands is a commitment on my part that I will never go back on. I am much determined to be faithful to what I committed myself to in all earnestness and sincerity, and I am very much keen on implementing it without reverting to a former position or going back on it. This commitment springs from a sure conviction of the honesty and purity of your intentions and movements, and your demands are just and legitimate. Errors are possible in all political systems and in every state. What is important is to acknowledge and rectify them as soon as possible and make the people responsible for them answerable to them. I tell you that, as the president of the republic, I do not find it embarrassing or blemishing to listen to the youth of my country and be responsive to them. However, whatever their origin, misfortunes, or justifications, it is extremely embarrassing and shameful to listen to foreign dictations coming from abroad, which I never did and will never accept. Sons, the youth of Egypt, brotherly citizens, I declared in uncontroversial and straightforward terms that I will not stand as a candidate in the next presidential elections, contenting myself with what I have rendered to the homeland for over sixty years in times of war and peace. I declared my adherence to that, and I declared a similar adherence in degree to going forward with my responsibility to protect the Constitution and the people’s interests till power and responsibility be given to whoever the people will choose next September in free and honest elections, which would be afforded guarantees of freedom and honesty. This is the oath that I swore before God and the homeland. I will keep it till we reach the safety shore with Egypt and its people. I proposed a specific vision to weather away the current crisis and to realize what the youth and the citizens called for in respect for constitutional legitimacy and without undermining it and in a way that guarantees the stability of our society and the demands of its sons. At the same time, it proposes an agreed upon frame for a peaceful transfer of power through responsible dialogue between all the forces of the society at a maximal degree of sincerity and transparency. I proposed this vision in commitment to my responsibility to find a way out for the homeland from these critical times. I am following up its implementation first things first, hour by hour, expecting the support and backup of each one keen on Egypt and its people in order to make it a lived reality in accordance with a wide base national consensus, whose implementation would be seen to by our brave armed forces. We have indeed started a constructive national dialogue including Egypt’s youth who led the call for change and all the other political forces. This dialogue resulted in a provisional compatibility of opinions and attitudes which would set our steps at the beginning of the right path out of the crisis. It should be continued in order for it to be taken from agreed upon broad lines to a clear roadmap and a specific timeline toward a day by day peaceful transfer of power from now till next September. This national dialogue has agreed on forming a constitutional committee whose task would be to study the required amendments in the Constitution and the legislative amendments that they require. It has also agreed on forming a follow-up committee whose task would be to follow up the faithful implementation of what I committed myself to in front of the people. I was
determined in the formation of the two committees to include Egyptian personalities known for their independence and objectivity and from among the jurist of constitutional law, people of the bar. Apart from this and owing to the loss of martyrs from among the sons of Egypt in sad and tragic events which aggrieved our hearts and shook up the conscience of the homeland, I quickly issued instructions to finish investigations on last week’s events and forward its results immediately to the attorney general for deterrent legal procedures to be taken. I received yesterday the first report on prioritized constitutional amendments which have been suggested by the committee that I have formed from among jurists in order to study the required constitutional and legislative amendments. In sympathy with the suggestions that the committee’s report included and in conformity with the prerogatives of the president of the republic guaranteed by article 189 of the Constitution, I have required today the amendment of six constitutional articles, which are articles 76, 77, 88, 93, and 189 as well as the abrogation of article 179 from the Constitution, emphasizing readiness to request at a subsequent time the amendment of the articles which the committee would deem necessary according to motives and justifications. These prioritized amendments target the ease of the conditions for candidacy to the presidency of the republic and the adoption of a fixed number of presidential terms to guarantee power alternation and consolidate the controls of the supervision of elections in order to ensure their freedoms and impartiality. These amendments also emphasize the responsibility of the judiciary alone for decisions on the membership of the members of Parliament, and for amending the conditions and procedures of requests for amending the Constitution. As to the suggestion to abrogate article 179 of the Constitution, it aims at realizing the required balance between the protection of the homeland from the risks of terrorism and the guarantee of respect of citizens’ civil rights and freedoms, which would open the door to suspending the emergency law as soon as calm and stability are restored and the availability of the right conditions for doing away with the state of emergency. Brotherly citizens, the priority now is to restore confidence among Egyptians, in our economy, in our international self-image, and confidence in the security of reform. There is no point of return and no going back on the change which we have started. Egypt is going through difficult times which we should not allow to continue, which have made us and our economy suffer damage and loss daily, and the situation in Egypt of the youth who have asked for change and reform would make them their first victims. The current moment is not centered round my person; it is not centered on Husni Mubarak but the present situation relates to Egypt with regard to its present and the future of its sons. All Egyptians are now in the same trench. We should continue the national dialogue which we have started in a team spirit not in a spirit of sections away from disagreement and fight in order for Egypt to overcome its current crisis, and bring back confidence to its economy, peace and security to our citizens, and its normal daily life to the Egyptian street. I was a young man like Egypt’s youth now when I learnt the honor of the Egyptian military, loyalty to the homeland, and sacrifice for it. I spent my life defending its territory and sovereignty. I was witness to its wars with their defeats and victories. I lived through the days of brokenness and colonization, and the days of crossing, victory, and liberation. The happiest day of my life was the day I lifted Egypt’s flag over Sinai. I faced death many times as a pilot and in Addis Ababa and many others. In no day did I
submit to foreign pressures or dictations. I preserved peace. I worked for the security and stability of Egypt. I endeavored to work for its renaissance for the sake of its children. I never one day looked for power or fake popularity. I trust that the great majority of the children of the people know who Husni Mubarak is. It grieves me today to undergo what I do from some of the children of my homeland. Anyway, I am perfectly aware of the seriousness of the difficult current crossroad. Believing that Egypt is going through a critical moment in its history which compels us all to give priority to the general interest of the homeland and put Egypt over all any calculation and every other plan, I saw it fit to delegate the responsibilities of the president of the republic to the deputy president of the republic in accordance with the Constitution. I know for sure that Egypt will overcome its crisis. The determination of its people will not be broken. It will stand on its feet anew owing to the sincerity and faithfulness of its sons, all its children, and it will react to the slyness of conspirators and the glee of those who rejoice at others’ misfortune. We Egyptians will demonstrate our capacity to realize the people’s demands through civilized and enlightened dialogue. We will prove that we are not followers of anybody, that we do not take instructions from anybody, and that nobody makes our heritage except the beat of the street and the demands of the sons of the homeland. We will prove that through the spirit and determination of Egyptians, the unity and cohesion of this people, and our clinging to the eternal glory, dignity, and identity of Egypt. It is the foundation and essence of our existence for over 7000 years. This spirit will live in us as long as Egypt and its people exist. This spirit will live in us since Egypt and its people exist. It will exist in each one of our farmers, workers, and cultivated people. It will remain in the heart of the elderly, the youth, and the children, be they Muslins or Copts, and in the minds and consciences of our sons who have not been born yet. I say anew that I have lived for this homeland, protecting its responsibility and faithfulness. Egypt will remain over and above individuals and above all. It will remain till I pass on its guardianship and flag, which are the goal, the objective, the responsibility, the duty, the beginning, the end, the land of birth, and the land of death. It will remain a dear country that will not leave me and that I will not leave before I am buried. It will remain a kind people, eternal, with its head and flag up, full of pride and dignity. May God protect Egypt as a secure country and care for its people, and guide its steps, and peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you. © Transcribed from YouTube videos and translated from Arabic by Professor Zouheir Ahmed Maalej
