Master and Apprentice

I’m not an expert on Egypt, and it’s unlikely that you’ll catch me at Comic-Con, but over the past several days, each time I’ve heard newscasters mention that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ruled under “Emergency Law,” I’ve wondered...has anyone else thought about the similarities between former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Emperor Palpatine?

I retrieved the following blurbs from Wikipedia on February 12, 2011. Cue the Imperial Theme.

After Obi-Wan discovers that the Separatists are building a secret battle droid army, Palpatine uses the situation to have himself granted emergency powers. Palpatine feigns reluctance to accept this authority, promising to return it to the Senate once the crisis has ended. His first act is to create an army of cloned human warriors to counter the Separatist threat...Palpatine has become a virtual dictator, able to take any action in the Senate.

– from article on “Palpatine”

Egypt is a semi-presidential republic under Emergency Law (Law No. 162 of 1958) and has been since 1967, except for an 18-month break in 1980s (which ended with the assassination of Sadat). Under the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights suspended and censorship is legalized. The law sharply circumscribes any non-governmental political activity: street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and unregistered financial donations are formally banned. Some 17,000 people are detained under the law, and estimates of political prisoners run as high as 30,000. Under that “state of emergency,” the government has the right to imprison individuals for any period of time, and for virtually no reason, thus keeping them in prisons without trials for any period.

– from article on “Hosni Mubarak”