20-Year-Old Egyptian: 'We Just Need A New Regime'
Robert Siegel speaks to one of the many Egyptians who made their way to central Cairo on Tuesday — a 20-year-old who recently graduated from Cairo University and was recently hired as a marketing specialist at a small, private company.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
And we're going to hear directly now from another one of the many Egyptians who made their way to central Cairo today. I spoke with Wiyam Saron(ph) earlier, before President Mubarak announced that he would not run for a new term. She is 20 years old. She just graduated from Cairo University, where she studied economics, and she was recently hired as a marketing specialist at a small private company. And I asked her what she hoped would come of these protests, and she said, in a word: justice.
Ms. WIYAM SARON (Marketing Specialist): We just need a new regime, hopefully. We need a new president. We need a younger government, hopefully (unintelligible).
SIEGEL: But apart from being younger, what kind of new regime? What kind of regime would be good for Egypt?
Ms. SARON: Just - I mean, a better one. There's a lot of corruption here in Egypt, a lot of bad politicians. I don't want to curse here.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. SARON: Just better one, just working for a better future for us.
SIEGEL: Are there any people in Egypt now who, to you, stand out as good leaders or as heroes to you?
Ms. SARON: Well, actually, Mubarak have worked very hard to eliminate any (unintelligible) to compete with him, but hopefully, once he's out, a lot of (unintelligible) would come out because there's a lot of good people here in Egypt that can run the country in the best way.
SIEGEL: And you know one of the big questions that everybody is asking about, what will happen next in Egypt is, would it become a government led by the Muslim Brotherhood, and would that be more of an Islamic republic?
Ms. SARON: No. I don't think so. I don't think - no. I don't think this will happen because what is really significant here in this kind of revolution is that it's led by mainly us, and there's no political direction whatsoever - not the (unintelligible), not the Muslims, not any other opposition party, just led by the youth. That's all.
SIEGEL: By the youth?
Ms. SARON: Yes.
SIEGEL: And you're saying the most important thing now is just something other than the Mubarak regime, is what you're telling me?
Ms. SARON: Yes. Yes. A better one.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. SARON: This is the most important thing.
SIEGEL: Wiyam Saron, thank you very much for talking with us.
Ms. SARON: Thank you very much, Robert.
SIEGEL: That's 20-year-old Wiyam Saron speaking to us earlier today from Tahrir Square.
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