Africa

Home page

Africa

Muslim Brotherhood leader Mursi elected Egyptian president

25 June 2012 08:17 (UTC +04:00)

APA reports quoting Al Jazeera that Morsi picked up 13.2 million votes out of just over 26 million, giving him about 51 per cent of the vote. His competitor, Ahmed Shafik, the final prime minister under Hosni Mubarak, received 12.3 million. More than 800,000 ballots were invalidated.

The president-elected delivered a victory address on Sunday night. He spoke on state television, long a medium which demonized him and the Muslim Brotherhood. He thanked the Egyptian people for their votes, calling them "my family" and "my beloved," and promised to work to "restore their rights."

"I have no rights, only responsibilities," Morsi said. "If I do not deliver, do not obey me." He also reached out to the army, the police, and Egypt’s intelligence services, thanking them for their work in protecting the country, and promised to "preserve" the military.

Morsi’s victory caps off more than a week of behind-the-scenes negotiations between the Brotherhood and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). He claimed victory just hours after last week’s runoff election, based on unofficial numbers tallied by the Brotherhood, but the commission delayed its official announcement until Sunday.

Morsi retains the right to appoint the prime minister and cabinet. He has already begun talks o form a presidential team and cabinet that "would truly represent Egypt after the revolution," according to a statement on the Brotherhoods Twitter account.

Shortly before the polls closed last week, the generals issued a decree sharply limiting the powers of the new president. It permitted him to declare war, for example, only with the approval of the military council. SCAF will also keep control of legislative power, and the budget, until a new parliament is elected. Egyptians went to the polls in November to elect a legislature, which was dominated by the Freedom and Justice Party, but it was dissolved earlier this month after a high court ruling found parts of the electoral law unconstitutional. Either way, the military council - which has promised to hand over power to a civilian government on June 30, in a "grand ceremony" - will remain a powerful force in Egyptian politics, despite the election of a civilian president.