"...The twilight of the Mubarak regime ..."

In the WPR/ here

"... Since narrowly escaping the 1980 assassination plot that claimed the life of his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, Mubarak has obsessed over his grasp on power. He's defined himself as a firm and cautious leader who shows little tolerance for any threats to his rule, whether real or imagined...... maintained the nation's Emergency Law in effect ever since Sadat's murder.
The law provides for an extension of police powers and the legalization of censorship, while limiting political demonstrations, suspending constitutional rights and barring all political parties that lack the official approval of Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP). .......Mubarak's obsession with political ascendance has come at the cost of economic progress, with the lines between political and military power blurred, civil institutions leveled, and the nation polarized.
Now, with October's parliamentary elections on the horizon, Mubarak has ramped up efforts by his security services to crack down on the opposition...... ElBaradei has had little trouble garnering international attention since Mubarak's health scare left the world considering an Egypt in transition. With a presidential election scheduled for 2011, rumors are rampant that ElBaradei will challenge either Mubarak, if the latter's health allows, or Mubarak's son Gamal, who has been groomed -- albeit awkwardly and without public support -- for succession.
For his part, ElBaradei has played coy regarding his political ambitions, publicly stating that he is not currently interested in public office, but rather anxious to use his personal clout to reform his homeland's constitutional wasteland. In his own words, "Change will have to come from within [Egypt] . . . There is no one coming on a white horse that is going to do it for you."
In response, the state-controlled media has maligned ElBaradei as a traitor to the nation whose campaign for political reform is "tantamount to a constitutional coup." Following last Tuesday's protests, his supporters have been beaten, arrested and allegedly tortured, all in full view of a watching world.
.........ElBaradei will likely continue to play his political cards close to the vest. In a nation that's short on democratic experience, barring an implausible change in Mubarak's stance against political opposition, ElBaradei may have to content himself with the role of Egypt's Critic-in-Chief. That would not necessarily weaken his message.
In his words, "The West talks a lot about elections in Iran, for example, but at least there were elections. Yet where are the elections in the Arab world? If the West doesn't talk about that, then how can it have any credibility?" On the eve of this year's parliamentary elections and the 2011 presidential vote, the time is fast approaching for the world to reconsider the shape and stature of Egyptian "democracy." For nearly three decades, Mubarak has maintained his regime by presenting his allies with a simple choice: an oppressive dictatorship that is willing to work with and on behalf of U.S. and regional interests, or the triumph of radical Islamists. Mohamed ElBaradei is neither a pharaoh nor a fanatic, making his warning all the more noteworthy: Egypt may not suffer another strongman, and the West might not be able to afford one.