Egyptian protesters have dubbed today the "Day of Departure" for President Mubarak – and they may be proved right. There are reports this morning that the US has now shifted from vague talk of "transition" to working on a plan for him to step down immediately.

The American plan is said to involve Omar Suleiman, the newly-appointed vice-president, taking charge over a transitional government. 

Whether or not this would be acceptable to the protesters, it presents a constitutional problem. The constitution (Article 84) says that in the event of the president resigning, the chair of the People's Assembly (rather than the vice-president) would assume presidential duties, with new presidential elections to be held within 60 days.

However, there are a couple of ways the American scenario could still be implemented legally and leave Suleiman in charge. One would be for Mubarak to leave the country "temporarily" without formally resigning (which is what Ben Ali attempted initially in Tunisia). The other – extremely unlikely – would be a parliamentary vote to impeach him. Nathan Brown explores the question further on the Foreign Policy website.

Mubarak's behaviour over the last couple of days has effectively sealed his fate: first by setting his thugs on demonstrators and journalists, and then by his interview with Christiane Amanpour where he said the only thing holding him back from resigning was the chaos that he believed would ensue. This invited the obvious riposte that the country is already in chaos as a result of his refusal to go.

There has been some irritation expressed on Twitter about the amount of prominence given to attacks on foreign journalists compared with those on ordinary Egyptians. It's a fair point, but the reporting of attacks on journalists – especially American ones – has clearly helped to shift the discourse among western governments towards calling for Mubarak's immediate departure rather than waiting until the next presidential election.

American efforts to manipulate Egypt's transfer of power behind the scenes are not something I particularly welcome, either. But, again, considering that the US has helped to prop up Mubarak's regime over so many years it seems necessary, in a way, that the US should also signal now that it is finally letting him go. And for once, on the immediate issue of Mubarak's departure (if nothing else), the new American position does seem to be in line with the wishes of the Egyptian people.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 4 Feb 2011.