CAIRO — The storming of opposition- occupied Tahrir Square by supporters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suggests there are many in Egypt who are deeply invested in the current system — and will fight to preserve it.
While protesters call Mubarak’s 30- year reign a disaster, a cross section of Egyptians has much to lose when Mubarak leaves office.
Businessmen with rich government contracts, civil servants, security officers, ruling-party activists and poor Egyptians who fear the instability that has descended on their country in recent days — all have a stake in ensuring that whoever comes after Mubarak changes as little as possible.
“There have been problems during Mubarak’s time, but at least we’ve had stability,” said Maher Salman, a 37- year-old businessman who was among those on the streets shouting his approval of the president. “If he goes, we will be like Iraq and Tunisia. We don’t want all the things we’ve gained over the past 30 years to be lost.”
Salman’s affection for Mubarak appeared genuine. But there was also strong evidence that the counterdemonstration was orchestrated from above, suggesting that powerful interests here are digging in for battle.
“The fall of the regime is not only going to be harmful to the president but also to all of the people linked to the president,” said Alaa al Aswany, an Egyptian novelist who has long been a leading voice in the call for democracy here.
While rich and poor alike have joined the call for democracy, the movement has been led by the professional middle class — lawyers, doctors, university students and engineers. Many of the poor, who constitute the majority in Egypt, said they distrust demonstrators’ motivations and are concerned that the movement has a hidden foreign agenda.
Ahmed Sayed, 45, dressed in worn jeans smeared with oil, said no decent Egyptian would insult the president as demonstrators have Mubarak.
“I don’t read or write myself, but I know that Mubarak went to university, and since then he’s done nothing but serve us,” the auto mechanic said.
