Article written by Learners Workshop
In a historic move, the president of Egypt stepped down as the protests got more intense. Fireworks burst over Tahrir Square and Egypt exploded with joy and tears of relief after pro-democracy protesters made President Mubarak resigns after 3 weeks of non-stop protests. Vice President Omar Suleiman made the announcement on national TV just after nightfall (Friday AM). The military will take over power.
The protests which started by a group of students and was organized over the internet, first took place on January 25, 2011 and had a larger than expected turnout. Over the next days and weeks, more protesters joined and they got the support of Muslim Brotherhood, which is an Islamic group.
Mubarak was in power for 30 years and it has been said that there was a lot of corruption in the government and election rigging that kept him in power.
The whole world now watches to see who will take power in Egypt, which may effect many things such as the peace in Middle East and relations with Israel. Mubarak was a good ally to the US and it is unknown if the new government will be the same.
President Obama had this to say today: ‘The people of Egypt have spoken,’ Obama said. ‘Their voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same.’
‘Egyptians have inspired us, and they’ve done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained through violence,’ Obama noted.
‘For in Egypt, it was the moral force of non-violence – not terrorism, not mindless killing – but non-violence, moral force that bent the arc of history toward justice once more,’ Obama said.
