The Day Mubarak Stepped Down: Move Away From The Box

Middle East Uprising/Day 18…. A truly historic day.

These two images from WAPO’s wonderful slideshow on “The Reign of Egypt’s Mubarak” really encapsulate what inspired the energy and motivation in Tahrir Square these past two weeks.

The first image, from October 13, 1981, shows Mubarak voting for himself in a national referendum to decide whether he should succeed Anwar Sadat.  The second photo is a screen grab from May 25, 2005 in what turned out to be a mostly sham exercise to decide whether Egypt should hold direct presidential elections including multi-party candidates.

The call for Mubarak to leave could not apply more fittingly than to the pictures above.