Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

An Egyptian court on November 29 threw out charges against former president Hosni Mubarak. The ousted strongman was on trial for the killing of protesters in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that ended his 30 years of authoritarian rule. The controversial verdict caused quite a stir among global media outlets, with many claiming that the verdict symbolizes that the 2011 revolution is returning to the original point. But does the acquittal of Mubarak really turn back the wheel of the revolution to where it started?

From the perspective of the Egyptian political development trajectory, the Egyptian political landscape has never fundamentally changed over the past six decades.

The Egyptian society has been locked into a dual political structure, which consists of two factions: the secular ruling elites represented by the military and the politically marginalized Islamist opposition. Of the six presidents since 1953, five have had military background. Although Mohamed Morsi was a democratically elected president and the Muslim Brotherhood that he belongs to once moved into the center of power, the dominance of the military has never been shaken.

The so-called revolution only brought about the change of leadership, but failed to transform the way of governance. The Egyptian political logic and structure have never changed, so how can we say the revolution is regressing?

Although there are sporadic demonstrations, the acquittal of Mubarak didn't rekindle protests as massive as the wild Arab Spring uprising, in which millions of protesters rushed to Tahrir Square and the streets.

One of my local friends, Abdel-Moneim Fawzi, who is a senior reporter of the Egyptian newspaper Al Gomhuria told me, "Egypt cannot afford big turbulence any more. The mainstream public opinion here longs for stability, and only a minority are still fixated on street politics. Now because the military has taken a tough stance, Egypt won't be dragged into chaos again. The country is confronted with the major mission of how to build up a new Egypt rather than recklessly venting discontent, which is harmful to the development of the whole nation."

Fawzi's remarks represent the mainstream opinion of Egypt. Although Egyptians haven't found the way to establish a "new" country yet, they wouldn't recklessly overthrow an old regime as they did four years ago. People have pinned their hope of Egypt's rejuvenation on the current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi who is eyeing ambitious national projects to boost the country's lagging economy, rather than seeking to vent their complaints through street politics.

Mubarak's acquittal is just one small episode of the development of Egypt and its significance has been deliberately exaggerated by some media and analysts. Debates over the legitimacy of the verdict and evaluation of the merits and demerits of Mubarak will continue. But in actuality, whether Mubarak was convicted or not is not so important to Egypt. What matters more is that a growing number of Egyptians are willing to live for the moment and for the future, rather than being stuck in the past.

Now, political stability has been gradually resumed in Egypt. The country is witnessing accelerating economic growth and the plan to build a new Suez Canal alongside the existing 145-year-old waterway to boost the country's economy has been put into smooth operation. That's where our hopes in this ancient country lie.

The author is a reporter with People's Daily. He is now stationed in Egypt. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn