CAIRO: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi has claimed victory in the country's first post-uprising presidential election. Morsi's victory will see Egypt have its first civilian president in more than 60 years, since a 1952 military coup ousted the King. Official results are to be announced later this week. An election committee source told Reuters news agency that Morsi, the American-educated Islamist engineer, was comfortably ahead of former air force general Ahmed Shafiq with most of the votes tallied. On Monday morning, thousands of Egyptians had gathered in Tahrir Square to celebrate Morsi's victory, which has been shrouded in military action to take near complete control of the country. “We are winners finally in Egypt,” one Morsi supporter told Bikyamasr.com on Monday as traffic was stalled and flags were being waved. “Egypt is going to be a great country under Morsi.” Some activists and commentators are arguing that the results are irrelevant after the military junta issued a constitutional declaration on Sunday that gives them near complete power over politics and the economy. “He is a puppet for the military and the Brotherhood,” some activists wrote on Twitter. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) had in January transferred legislative power to the parliament. However, last Thursday, the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled the Islamist-led lower house of parliament invalid, dissolving the institution. Using this decision as a pretext, the military declared that it will amend article 56 of the constitutional declaration, handing legislative powers and state budget to the SCAF. Military sources also say article 30 of the declaration will be amended to read that the new president will be sworn in by the Supreme Constitutional Court instead of the lower house of the parliament. The ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court has also allowed the military to put forth its own presidential candidate, rejecting the political isolation law. The old regime loyalist Ahmed Shafiq, who would have been removed from the race if the law had been implemented, is now competing against the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi. The SCAF is further determined to make full use of the recent minister of justice's decree, which grants the military the same procedural powers as the police and allows officers to arrest civilians on the spot. Former presidential candidate Ayman Nour wrote on his Twitter account that “the decree is a step back and a threat to the procedural authority and a setback to democracy and a return to the ghost of emergency law.” The military pledged to relinquish power to civilian government on June 30. Yet, the supposed transition has been chaotic, with no constitution or clearly defined presidential powers. ** Kristina Alekseyeva contributed to this report.
