The "day of departure" protest that was scheduled in Tahrir Sqaure today produced the biggest turn-out yet of anti-Mubarak protests. Even after Egypt's President, Hosni Mubarak announced on February 1st that he would stand down during the next election in September. However, millions still joined in the protests today because they want Mubarak to step down immediately, and as the Egyptian actor Mohsena Tawfik put it: "Once revolution has begun it will not stop". Barack Obama supported the revolutionaries by saying that "change must begin now". Yet as Mubarak made his grave appearance on state television earlier this week he "attacked those responsible for protests that had been 'manipulated by political forces', caused mayhem and chaos and endangered the 'stability of the nation', the Guardian reports. Mubarak said he was always going to quit in September, something he had never told the public until recently. Ironicly this appearance of Mubarak may be the very reason protests have escalated recently. Amr, a 32-year-old protester said: "the tragedy is in the lies told about us by the regime". This clearly shows that the protesters have the right to continue demanding the immediate step down of Mubarak. With 20% of the population currently below the poverty line it is clear that society is made up mostly of the lower class where a stable Bourgeoisie, or middle class, is clearly missing. This explains why protests have been so popular, as indeed the lower class are feeling the effects of Mubarak regime's failure at improving the economy the most (most notably felt in unemployment and the cost of living, since many young people in Egypt now do not earn enough money to support a family). Another reason protests have continued is the anger at pro-Mubarak supporters, who according to the Guardian, have been "using clubs, bats, knives and even homemade spears" to charge Tahrir Square. This shows that Mubarak feels the need to combat mostly peaceful protests with violence which only makes the protester claims more legitimate. In fact, a coalition of 300 youth coordinators who planned the initial demonstrations against the Mubarak regime have laid down specific demands."They include not just the removal of Mubarak but also the disassembling of the entire NDP elite around him, precluding a smooth transition should vice-president Omar Suleiman, a close Mubarak ally, take the helm once the president leaves" They also call "for the formation of a committee made up of judges, youth leaders and the military which will appoint a transitional government, plus a founding council of intellectuals and constitutional experts who will draw up a new constitution and put it to the Egyptian people in a referendum." Finally, they "demand free and fair elections at a local and national level once the new constitution has been implemented." These are all concrete claims that are based on basic human rights and this is why through social media and international press, many foreign countries support the trustfulness of the demonstrators movement, fittingly called the "Arab Spring". In fact, if the revolution should be successful then no doubt the economy will improve as well. This is because currently the protests are endangering the tourism sector of Egypt's economy and have already caused a loss of $1billion in tourism in the past nine days. However, Egypt is said to receive about $11 billion in revenue through tourism a year and so Mubarak needs to step down as soon as possible to stop any more money collected to go lost. Furthermore, even with direct taxes on ships "using the Suez canal generated $954.3 billion in the last financial year... Egypt still ran a current account deficit of $803 million in the third quarter of 2010 and had to borrow to cover the difference." This shows that if educated and democratic leaders are finally allowed to help govern he economy of Egypt it is possible to reverse the effects of Mubarak's mediocre financial ministry and regain purchasing power which can help alleviate poverty and develop infrastructure. It is clear that these protests are indeed legitimate and that the pressure is on for Mubarak to step down. The coming days will prove critical to determine whether this revolution will finally take the next step and reach the phase of the 'Fall of the Old Regime'.
