Source: CNN
Mubarak's Speech Satisfies No OneMubarak's defiant Thursday speech has done nothing to prolong his tenure in power. On the contrary, it has made protesters even more determined to oust him, greatly decreased the already slim probability that Suleiman will be an acceptable interlocutor to members of the opposition and increased the probability of a military takeover.
Suleiman's brief speech after Mubarak's address, in which he encouraged the protesters to go home and go back to work, was equally out of touch with the mood in the country. Delivered while growing crowds of demonstrators in Cairo and Alexandria kept up the chant of "go, go" that had started as soon as it became clear Mubarak was not going to resign, the exhortation for calm was futile at best.
Demonstrations on Friday will be huge as a result and will not abate in the following days. Suleiman is unlikely to find participants for continuing dialogue among members of the opposition.
At this point, the army appears to be the only organization that can break the impasse. Thursday morning, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, meeting without Mubarak, issued Communiqué Number One, pledging to continue searching for "possible actions and measures to safeguard the aspirations of the Egyptian people." Stay tuned for Communiqué Number Two.