Politics & Power Quote by Hosni Mubarak

A ruler trying, very late, to sound like a referee.

Mubarak’s phrasing works like a tactical retreat that’s also a claim to moral high ground. “Not about Hosni Mubarak” is the classic depersonalization move of embattled leaders: erase the protagonist to disarm the crowd’s demand for his exit. It’s an attempt to convert a legitimacy crisis into a civic lesson, shifting the spotlight from accountability to “Egypt, its present, the future of its sons.” The language of “sons” is paternal by design, casting the nation as a family and the state as the only responsible parent in the room. You can hear the implicit warning: children don’t run the household.

Then comes the most revealing metaphor: “all Egyptians are in the same trench.” In a moment defined by mass protest, he reaches for wartime solidarity, a frame that treats dissent as a dangerous luxury. A trench implies siege, enemies, and discipline; it asks citizens to close ranks around the institution that put them there. Even “national dialogue” is less invitation than containment. Dialogue suggests openness, but the line “That have already started” signals that the process is controlled, scheduled, and happening on the regime’s terms.

The closing distinction - “groups but not enemies” - is the velvet glove over a familiar fist. He acknowledges pluralism just enough to sound modern, while drawing a red line around what counts as acceptable opposition. In the 2011 uprising context, this is crisis management rhetoric: rebrand protesters as partners, reframe revolution as negotiation, and buy time without conceding the central demand.