Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- After a tumultuous day of speculation, disappointment and then anger, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak remains the titular head of his country.
Little else is clear.
"So I thought I would delegate powers to the vice president, according to the constitution, stipulations of the constitution," Mubarak said during his national televised address Thursday night.
The vice president is former intelligence head Omar Suleiman, tapped for the spot early in Mubarak's response to the protests. The Egyptian constitution allows the president to delegate powers to the vice president, a provision originally put into the document in case the president is temporarily incapacitated.
The constitution reserves three particular powers for the president alone -- they cannot be delegated to the vice president. Those are the right to dismiss parliament, to request constitutional amendments and to alter the structure of the government.
Egypt's ambassador to the United States, Sameh Shoukry, said that while Mubarak was by law still the president, Suleiman was now "the de facto president."
Suleiman has already begun negotiations with some of Egypt's opposition, and Mubarak said he's already asked for the modification of five constitutional articles -- 76, 77, 88, 93 and 198 -- and the repeal of a sixth -- 179.
Articles 76 and 77 deal with how presidential elections are conducted. Article 76 sets standards for qualifying parties, which currently all but guarantee the ruling NDP a spot on the ballot, while 77 sets presidential terms at 6 years with no limits on re-election. CNN
