OMAR SULEIMAN:BEFORE this week's popular uprising, when Egyptians speculated on who might be the next president after Hosni Mubarak, only two names were mentioned: Gamal, the president's young son, and Omar Suleiman, the chief of intelligence, writes
HEBA SALEH.
Analysts say the uprising has knocked Gamal out of the game for good. Indeed, one of the causes of the discontent has been speculation that Mubarak was grooming his son to succeed him – an insult in the eyes of many Egyptians.
Suleiman, however, has just been appointed vice-president, the traditional route to the top job. His chances will almost certainly depend on being able to calm the popular revolt that is calling for a regime change.
“Omar Suleiman’s mind is organised and he understands politics,” said an analyst who did not want to be identified. “He is smart and he gets it, but he is also ‘old school’ and of the same mindset as Mr Mubarak.” Analysts say Suleiman’s appointment may have come too late. Had it been made a few months ago, they argue, it would have signalled that plans for a Gamal succession had been dropped, easing some of the pressure that had built up.
Demonstrators and opposition activists have already rejected his appointment, saying they want a democratic change, not another leader imposed on them.
Suleiman is long regarded as the second most powerful man in the country. Born in 1935 in Qena, he studied in military academies at home and in Russia and has a master’s degree in political science.
Suleiman, a close associate of the president, has been Egypt’s spymaster since the 1990s. Described by western diplomats as a brilliant strategist, he has been Egypt’s point man on a range of thorny regional dossiers such as relations with Israel, the Middle East peace process, Iran and Sudan. Said to be respected by Israel and Egypt’s western partners, Suleiman has travelled to Jerusalem often to try to unblock the Middle East peace process.
He has also brokered ceasefires between Israel and Hamas-led Egyptian attempts to reconcile Palestinian factions. He has been described as a man with an “amazing knack for inspiring confidence” but it will take all his powers of persuasion, and possibly much more, to ease the rage of Egyptians. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)