CAIRO: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday evening said he hopes Egypt's military will hand over power to a civilian government in the near future. The comments came after last weekend's second round of its presidential election, a key element of the transition to greater democracy that began in January 2011 when a popular uprising overthrew the long-standing regime of Hosni Mubarak. Egyptian electoral authorities are scheduled to announce the official results of the run-off poll on Thursday. The run-off pitted Mohamed Morsi, representing the Muslim Brotherhood, against ex-prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. “The Secretary-General continues to follow events in Egypt closely,” the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, told the Security Council, as he briefed the 15-member body on the latest developments in the Middle East. “He looks forward to the early handover of full authority to a civilian government.” Ban “underscores his concern that the country's transition should meet the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people and of the international community for the establishment of strong, representative, democratic institutions and for the popular will to be respected – both in the elections and in the drafting of a new Constitution,” Fernandez-Taranco added. In addition to Egypt, the popular uprisings that began last year resulted in the toppling of long-standing regimes in Tunisia, Libya and Yemen, and led to the violence and humanitarian suffering that continues in Syria.
