Egypt election frontrunners eye runoff as results loom
CAIRO (May 28, 2012): Egypt’s electoral commission was set to announce Monday the results of last week’s presidential election, which looked headed to a runoff between an Islamist and ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak’s last premier.
Unofficial results announced by state media and candidates showed the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Mursi in first place and ex-prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in close second after the May 23-24 vote.
The commission was to announce the official results at a 1300 GMT press conference, the government’s press centre said in an email.
The head of the electoral commission, Hatem Bagato, cautioned on Sunday night that “the results announced so far are only indications.”
“The commission is in the process of examining appeals (about irregularities) and these appeals could change certain results,” Bagato told private television station Al-Nahar.
Both frontrunners, who represent polar opposites in the country’s fragmented politics after last year’s uprising against Mubarak, are now trying to court the support of the losing candidates and their voters.
The Brotherhood, which alienated many other political parties after its domination of parliamentary elections last winter, warned that the nation was in danger in the event of a Shafiq victory and pledged to become more inclusive.
It has so far gained the support of the ultra-conservative Salafist Al-Nur party, which had supported independent Islamist candidate Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh in the first round.
“The High Committee of the Al-Nur party supports Dr. Mohammed Mursi for president of the republic in the runoff,” the party said late on Sunday on its official Twitter account.
The Brotherhood’s Mursi had called a meeting of candidates on Saturday that was ignored by the third and fourth placed candidates in the first round — leftist Hamdeen Sabbahi and Abul Fotouh.
Mursi promised at a press conference after the meeting that his party would be prepared to include aspects of other parties’ programmes in its platform, but fell short of reassuring the Islamists’ critics, who say its wants to monopolise power.
“As president, I will be the president for all Egyptians. (My relationship) with the Brotherhood will be the same as all Egyptians,” he said.
Shafiq also called on Saturday for
You can read the rest of this article at:: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/390706
Short URL: http://thepresidency.us/?p=16503
Posted by RobertButler
on May 28 2012. Filed under 2012 Presidential Campaign.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
