Even though no official results have been announced, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party candidate Mohamed Mursi has declared he won the race to the presidency with over 52 per cent of the vote
Even though no official results have been announced, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party candidate Mohamed Mursi has declared he won the race to the presidency with over 52 per cent of the vote. His supporters have been celebrating in the squares of Egyptian town since Monday morning—the elections were over on the evening of the previous day, Sunday.
The other contender Ahmed Shafik is, for his part, also claiming victory. Shafik, a liberal secular candidate who is nonetheless seen by many as having belonged to the Mubarak establishment, insists the vote count is not yet final. His campaign has described the behaviour by Mursi and his supporters as an illegitimate attempt to hijack the elections results.
The official elections commission has declared that any results announced now are not valid, and that it is still looking into claims and contests, and will announce the final results on Thursday.
Even if Mursi wins, however, it will be a victory of sorts. On the eve of the elections, the ruling Supreme Council of the armed Forces (SCAF) issued a decree which gave the military police the right to arrest civilians under a number of charges. And again, as the elections came to a finish, the SCAF issued a constitutional declaration which gave it sweeping legislative and executive powers. The move came under the pretext that conflict between the political forces had since the 25 January 2011 Revolution led to failure to take any serious step towards write a new constitution; the result was that Egypt was getting a president with no constitutionally defined authorities. The SCAF move has been described by many analysts as a “soft coup”.
Last week the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) issued a ruling which dissolved the People’s Assembly (PA), the lower house of Egypt’s parliament, on grounds that the elections which brought it in were unconstitutional. Members of the dissolved PA which included a sweeping Islamist majority, have rejected the ruling; two MPs attempted yesterday and again today, to go into the PA building, but were prevented from doing so by the guards.
In defiance to the SCAF constitutional declaration, the [Islamist-majority] constituent assembly selected only last week by the dissolved PA to write the constitution has insisted on holding two meetings amid a large number of walkouts by it members.
This afternoon should see a million-person demonstration by the Islamist and revolutionary forces in Tahrir Square against the SCAF’s constitutional declaration. Demonstrators are already converging on the square.
WATANI International
19 June 2012