Morsi, Shafiq to Egypt’s Run-Off
The initial round of Egypt's first free presidential election in modern history delivered a stark choice for next month's runoff: an Islamist strong candidate versus a former air-force commander with deep ties to the man whose ouster precipitated this week's vote.
After a raucous campaign involving 13 contenders, preliminary results Friday from state media showed the field had been whittled to two candidates who represent the heavyweight forces of Egyptian politics: the Muslim Brotherhood and the military.
The Brotherhood's candidate, Mohammed Morsi, 60, has vowed to impose broader application of Islamic law. Ahmed Shafiq, 70, who served as prime minister before Hosni Mubarak was toppled from the presidency in the 2011 revolution, campaigned as a secular leader who will thwart the rise of political Islam and restore security.
The choice leaves a large section of Egyptian society feeling disenfranchised and stunned, particularly because neither finalist was regarded as a champion of last year's popular revolt.
The Muslim Brotherhood urged the nation Friday to unite behind its candidate to defeat Shafiq, calling on other presidential candidates to endorse Morsi. A leading member of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Essam Essam el-Erian, said at a news conference that Egypt's revolution was in "danger."
A win for Morsi in the second round, which was triggered because no candidate reached 50 percent, would give the Brotherhood a near-monopoly on the country's newly democratic government, after its sweep of parliamentary elections last year.
Shafiq calls Mubarak a role model, and opponents fear he would restore his former boss' secular police state, in which a heavy-handed security apparatus oppressed people. Results won't be official until Tuesday, but late Friday, counts from stations around the country reported by the state news agency gave Morsi 25.3 percent and Shafiq 24.9 percent, with less than 100,000 votes difference.
Leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, came in third in a surprisingly strong showing of 21.5 percent, while Abdel-Moneim Abul Fotoh ranked fourth.
After the initial results, Abul Fotouh urged his supporters to "confront the corrupt regime," in an implicit appeal against Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.
Trailing by a large margin was former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, with about 10 percent of the vote.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org
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