Mubarak’s son behind state deterioration: former Egyptian media official

Sunday, 05 February 2012

Former head of the news section at Egyptian state TV, Abdel Latif al-Manawi, blames the son of former President Hosni Mubarak, Gamal, of usurping his power and creating ineffective policies. (Al Arabiya)

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By Al Arabiya

Former head of the news section at Egyptian state TV, Abdel Latif al-Manawi, has accused Hosni Muabark’s son Gamal of the deterioration of the state and attributed the eruption of the revolution to his failed policies of the past few years.

“Due to his deteriorating health and after the death of his grandson, Mubarak left everything to his son Gamal who became fully in control,” Manawi told Al Arabiya’s Special Interview, to be aired Sunday at 6:00 pm KSA.

Gamal Mubarak, Manawi added, did not involve his father in any national issues and officials got instructions not to tell him any bad news.

“The result was that Mubarak became totally isolated from what was happening in the country and there was no longer this direct contact between the president and the people like what used to happen in the 1980s and 1990s.”

This, Manawi explained, was aggravated by what he called the “security obsession” where the president believed that his power was in constant danger.

Manawi said that as Gamal Mubarak grew more powerful, he started surrounding himself with a group of people who made him more tyrannical.

“They turned him into a Pharaoh through seeking his advice in every single detail and they all pushed the country to the abyss.”

Manawi cited the example of steel tycoon and member of the former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Ahmed Ezz whose influence was, he argued, the worst of all.

“Ahmed Ezz was like a bag of sand that dragged the country to the bottom and I tried several times to make his danger known to the most senior officials but to no avail.”

Gamal Mubarak, Manawi pointed out, made another mistake in the way he dealt with the January 25 Revolution as far as media coverage is concerned.

“The former information minister consulted Gamal Mubarak about ways of dealing with the protests and the latter refused hosting members of revolutionary movements on state TV on the grounds that this will lend credibility to the revolution.”

Manawi attributed Gamal Mubarak’s action to his belief that the revolution would not materialize.

“Gamal Mubarak and those around him had totally lost touch with reality. They lived in a virtual world and that is why they were not able to predict the outcome of the revolution.”

That is why, Manawi stated, Gamal Mubarak failed to understand that the revolutionary powers that started the protests were strong.

“He was not aware that those powers enjoyed broad support among average Egyptians citizens who were fed up with the regime.”



(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)