Egypt on election result alert

June 24th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, protest against Egypt’s military rulers in Tahrir Square on Saturday.

Updated at 8:30 a.m. ET: CAIRO – Egypt’s ruling armed forces were on alert on Sunday as fears of violence mounted in the final hours before the state election committee is to name the winner of last weekend’s presidential election at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET).

Mohamed Morsy of the long-oppressed Muslim Brotherhood has already claimed to be the successor to the ousted Hosni Mubarak. Millions of his Islamist loyalists may react with fury if the run-off goes to Ahmed Shafik, a former general and Mubarak ally.

Few troops were on the streets but security officials said they were ready to respond to trouble. Government workers around Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters had gathered, were encouraged to go home for the day.

Armored vehicles were posted in the capital at the election committee headquarters and the government information office where a news conference will end an anxious week of waiting.

Sunday’s result – five hundred days after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak – will be historic for the Middle East, but will not end power struggles between the army, Islamists and others over Egypt’s future.

The Brotherhood may react angrily if it is instead Ahmed Shafik, a former air force commander and Mubarak ally. His victory many Egyptians, and millions across the region, would fear as a mortal blow to last year’s Arab Spring revolution, despite his assurances of also wanting an inclusive government.

After an anxious week of street protests at Tahrir Square and angry accusations between rivals of subverting the new democracy, the new president will emerge with fewer powers than the candidates, pruned by a first round of voting in May, had expected when the army promised civilian rule from July 1.

The ruling military council, which pushed Mubarak aside to appease the protesters in the streets, has just stripped the post of many powers and dissolved the Brotherhood-led parliament elected in January. Yet the presidency is still a prize, even if the vote will not end the power struggles over Egypt’s future.

An Islamist president of Egypt would be a major milestone for the Middle East, near unthinkable 18 months ago. It is far from confirmed. But the military, Brotherhood and other officials gave signs of expecting it will happen.

Brotherhood supporters camped out in Tahrir Square, where the revolution was won, were generally in festive mood, though fear of disappointment still nagged, after decades of rigged elections. In counterpoint, a few thousand rallied on Saturday in a middle-class Cairo suburb to declare support for the army.

Egyptians fill Cairo’s Tahrir Square in anticipation of a new government being announced. NBC’s Richard Engel reports.

Morsy, a 60-year-old, U.S.-educated engineer and political prisoner under Mubarak, declared victory within hours of polls closing last Sunday – a move condemned by the generals. In a sign of continued confidence, he has already met other groups and drafted an accord to form a national coalition government.

His party issued a statement on Saturday saying it had called on “all partners in the nation, from all movements, to take part in this national platform, to guarantee the success of what we have achieved and their active participation in rebuilding the country in the manner it deserves.”

One of those involved, Abdel Gelil Mostafa of the reformist National Association for Change, told Reuters on Saturday: “We agreed on a general program, especially for if Morsy won.

“That seems probable. But, we will know tomorrow.”

‘We are in for a lot of instability’
By contrast, supporters of Shafik, 70, who was Mubarak’s last prime minister in his final desperate days, kept a low profile, although he did declare publicly on Thursday he was confident.

A victory for Shafik, who won backing in the run-off from many who decided they liked religious rule even less than a candidate drawn from the familiar military establishment, could spark protests from well-organized Islamist movements, which the army and security forces might confront on the streets.

Reformist politician Mohamed ElBaradei said he had been in contact with the army and Morsy’s camp to avoid a showdown, but said he was worried that, if Shafik were declared winner, “we are in for a lot of instability and violence … a major uprising.” His comments were carried by CNN on Saturday.

However, there have been indications from senior figures in the Brotherhood and military council that they have prepared for a Morsy presidency in meetings since the election.

While officials deny any negotiation over the long drawn out process of tallying the election results themselves, there would be greater scope for compromise to defuse tension over what many have called the army’s “soft coup”, against parliament and the powers of the president, if Morsy is made head of state.

The Brotherhood has said it will go on protesting until the military council cancels the dissolution and a decree which gave its legislative powers to itself, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). But were its candidate to be confirmed in office, then the wary symbiosis between the two old enemies, seen since Mubarak was ousted, may continue in a new form.

PhotoBlog: Egyptians pack Tahrir Square ahead of election result

It is a collaboration that irks many of the secular liberals who led the first wave of the uprising against Mubarak but found themselves fragmented and eliminated in last month’s first round of voting, left with a difficult choice between army and Islam.

Military’s role
Thousands of Brotherhood supporters were in Tahrir Square again on Saturday, chanting “Victory for Morsy!” and “Morsy, Morsy, Allahu akbar!” (God is greatest), while waving national flags.

“We want the military council to announce the real results without forgery,” said Hassan Eissa, 43, an accountant from north of Cairo who was demonstrating on the square.

“They have no right,” Eissa said. “Egyptians shouldn’t be under any kind of guardianship after the revolution.”

The generals, who oversaw Mubarak’s departure on Feb. 11, 2011, have repeatedly said, both to Egyptians and to their close U.S. ally, that they will return to barracks and hand over to civilian rule. But they present themselves as guardians of Egypt’s security and long-term interests and moved to block the Islamists from taking more than a share of power.

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