Poor Hosni II

Will this farce never end?

“I could put on an act for you and say I won’t stay. The world would rise up in protest and I would have messed everything up. I don’t like to play these con games... I am a man who’s serious in my work and I work from morning till I go to sleep every day,” he said.

But he also said: “Governing Egypt is not a picnic, not something easy... You have limited resources, high population growth and the requirements of the people. So the presidency of Egypt is not an easy business, and getting out of it isn’t easy. If it was up to me, I would like to relax. From the day I graduated as a young officer, as I say, it’s been hard work all along.”

Mubarak, 76, has been in power since 1981. “He who becomes president of Egypt, that’s the will of the people. (If) the people don’t want you, when you do whatever, it’s no use. And if the people want you, you won’t be able to leave,” he added.

Come on, people of Egypt, give the poor man a break!