Egypt, Japan discuss economic ties, preparations for TICAD conference    Real Estate Developers urge flexible land pricing, streamlined licensing, and dollar-based transactions    Madinet Masr in talks for three land plots in Riyadh as part of Saudi expansion    Egypt's PM tells Palestinian PM that Rafah crossing is working 24/7 for aid    Egypt's Sisi pledges full state support for telecoms, tech investment    EGP inches down vs. USD at Sunday's trading close    EGX launches 1st phone app    Escalation in Gaza, West Bank as Israeli strikes continue amid mounting international criticism    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt, UNDP discuss outcomes of joint projects, future environmental cooperation    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    After Putin summit, Trump says peace deal is best way to end Ukraine war    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Jordan condemns Israeli PM remarks on 'Greater Israel'    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egypt prepares to tackle seasonal air pollution in Nile Delta    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt, Colombia discuss medical support for Palestinians injured in Gaza    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt's govt. issues licensing controls for used cooking oil activities    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Egypt's Sisi: Egypt is gateway for aid to Gaza, not displacement    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Islamist and ex-PM vie for mantle of Egypt's revolt
Published in The Egyptian Gazette on 26 - 05 - 2012

CAIRO - The Muslim Brotherhood and a military man identified with the police state of the ousted Hosni Mubarak courted defeated first-round candidates in Egypt's presidential election on Saturday, each trying to claim the mantle of the revolution for a runoff next month.
State media named the Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi and former air force chief Ahmed Shafiq as the top two vote-getters in this week's first round of a close-fought election made possible by last year's popular revolt.
Official results are not due until Tuesday to allow the election committee to hear complaints and appeals about the voting. State newspapers cited no source for their vote count, which broadly tallied with previous Brotherhood estimates.
The choice between Mursi and Shafiq, representing forces that have tussled for the past six decades, has dismayed many Egyptians who voted for candidates offering a middle ground.
They fear a victory for the 70-year-old Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister, would snuff out hopes of change ignited by the anti-Mubarak uprising, while a win for Mursi would pitch Egypt into an experiment with Islamic rule.
The Brotherhood invited rivals, including losing candidates such as leftist Hamdeen Sabahy and moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, to talks on Saturday aimed at gaining their support for the runoff against Shafiq on June 16 and 17.
Warning of "determined efforts to recreate the old regime", it said parties that supported the uprising against Mubarak must unite "so that the revolution is not stolen from us".
The Brotherhood already holds the biggest bloc in parliament after an election completed in January, but has been unable to assert itself against an army-appointed interim government.
Shafiq used strikingly similar language at a news conference as he addressed youth groups that spearheaded last year's popular uprising.
"Your revolution was stolen," he told them. "I pledge to return its fruits to your hands."
Shafiq said that "the clock cannot be turned back", but that he would not let the country "drown in chaos".
Much of his rhetoric indirectly targeted the Brotherhood, playing on fears among Egypt's minority Christians and secular liberals that a Mursi presidency would threaten their freedoms.
"No exclusion of anyone or distancing of anyone," he declared. "Everyone has a right to be a part of this nation."
On Friday he had told Egyptian television that he saw no problem with the idea of a Muslim Brotherhood-led government if he were elected president.
The generals who took over when Mubarak quit on February 11, 2011, have promised to make way for a new president by July 1, formally ending a messy and often bloody political transition.
But the military, which has supplied all Egypt's previous presidents, is keen to keep its privileges and influence in a new order in which the powers of the president, parliament and government are as yet undefined by a rewritten constitution.
Mursi and Shafiq only narrowly topped the vote on Wednesday and Thursday, in which unofficial results showed less than 8 percentage points separating the top four candidates.
Mursi's 25 percent paled in comparison to the parliamentary election, in which the Brotherhood gained nearly half the seats.
Reform-minded independents such as Abol Fotouh and Sabahy between them won more votes than either Shafiq or Mursi, hinting at the growth of a new centre in Egypt's fluid political scene.
"The Brotherhood will have to reach out in a grand and dramatic way to the centre and the other political parties if they have any hope of winning their support and any hope of winning the presidency," said Elijah Zarwan of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
A Brotherhood party official, Yasser Ali, said the talks to persuade rivals to join an anti-Shafiq front would discuss the vice presidency and a new coalition government.
"We know we will succeed in uniting behind the initiative to save the nation and complete the revolution," Essam el-Erian, deputy head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told a news conference on Friday.
Long a thorn in Mubarak's flesh, the Brotherhood has looked increasingly isolated from other parties since his fall, first facing accusations it was slow to join the revolt and then that it acquiesced in the military rule that followed.
Trust in the Brotherhood was further undermined when the group decided to join the presidential race, after previously pledging to stay out. The group, founded in 1928, says it is the target of a vicious smear campaign by its opponents.
Abol Fotouh, who won about 17.6 percent of the vote by the Brotherhood's count, has said he will now back the Islamist group with which he split last year to run for president.
He did not name the Brotherhood, but said he and his supporters would "rise above our political and party differences" and would "stand in a united front against the symbols of corruption and oppression".
Shafiq has won support among Egyptians who see him as the kind of strongman the country needs to end 15 months of political instability, economic failure and rising crime.
His constituency also includes Christians, who form about a 10th of Egypt's 82 million people. They complained of discrimination in Mubarak's day, but are likely to vote for Shafiq in preference to an Islamist.
Mohamed Habib, a former deputy leader of the Brotherhood who left the group last year in protest at its post-uprising policies, said the group should offer vice presidential positions to at least two people from outside the group.
He suggested one could be a Christian - an idea to which Mursi himself has said he is not opposed.


Clic here to read the story from its source.