Egyptians celebrate victory for democracy as Mohammed Morsi is elected
Fireworks are set off in Cairos Tahrir Square last night. Picture: Reuters
MUSLIM Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi has been declared the winner of Egypt’s first post-revolutionary democratic elections.
The results will see an Islamist succeed president Hosni Mubarak, the strongman who ruled Egypt for 30 years, as leader of the Arab world’s most populous state.
Mr Morsi narrowly defeated his rival Ahmed Shafiq, Mr Mubarak’s last prime minister, in the deeply divisive race. He recorded 51.7 per cent of the vote.
Farouq Sultan, the head of Egypt’s presidential committee, announced the results at the end of a long rambling speech defending the integrity of the electoral body and detailing appeals by each candidate.
Jubilant cheers roared out in Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, where the revolution began, as tens of thousands poured into the streets to celebrate the news which was widely perceived as a victory for the revolution.
Revellers set off fire crackers, waved flags and danced into the night. Across the city, drivers honked their vehicle horns.
The win is a once-unthinkable victory for the Brotherhood, which was for decades a banned underground movement whose members were detained and persecuted. Mr Morsi himself was arrested several times.
Yet the outcome has alarmed many secular liberals and Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, who fear he will set Egypt on a path towards Islamic rule.
In 2007, Mr Morsi was responsible for a draft Brotherhood manifesto that barred women and Christians from seeking the presidency.
But despite repeated claims during the campaign that he would bring sharia law to Egypt, Mr Morsi has attempted to reach out to liberal and revolutionary figures and has promised he will form a unity government.
He has also pledged to stand by the Camp David peace agreement with Israel, and senior Brotherhood representatives have had an increasing number of talks with United States officials over the past year.
Both Israel and the US congratulated Mr Morsi on his victor. Foreign Secretary William Hague said the outcome marked a “historic moment for Egypt”.
Mr Morsi, 60, a stocky engineering professor who gained a post-doctoral degree from the University of Southern California, had been widely dismissed as lacking in experience and charisma.
Many suspect other Brotherhood officials, such as the key strategist, millionaire businessman Khairat al-Shater, will effectively rule from behind the scenes. The election results came after a week of tense uncertainty after a bid by Egypt’s ruling military generals to curb the influence of the incoming president, leaving the extent of the new leader’s powers unclear.
In a last minute power-grab, the armed forces reimposed martial law and announced the dissolution of Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament.
The Brotherhood has refused to accept the legitimacy of a constitutional decree issued by the army a week ago which hands full legislative authority to the military council until a new parliament is elected.
The decree strips the president of many of his powers and has sparked a wave of mass protests led by the Muslim Brotherhood, whose supporters staged a sit-in at Tahrir Square in recent days demanding it be rescinded.
The constitutional amendments have also placed the army in control of the budget and given them a key role in the drafting of the constitution.
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Wednesday 22 May 2013
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