Egypt: Egypt Delays Presidential Pick

Who's your president? The answer is still unknown in Egypt, where authorities confirm the winner of the presidential runoff race will likely be unknown until June 21. Judges are reviewing some 400 election complaints from both campaigns. Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi claimed early victory over former Hosni Mubarak minister Ahmed Shafik on Sunday before polls had closed. The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces—which assumed presidential power after Mubarak was ousted—says it will hand over power once one candidate is deemed the winner. Mubarak’s health, which has wavered over the last 24 hours, was greatly improved Wednesday, his lawyers saying he could make a 'full recovery.'

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Egypt: The Resurrection of Ahmed Shafiq

The initial results of the first stage of the Egyptian presidential election indicate that Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq will take part in the runoff vote on June 16 and 17.
There has been widespread shock at the reemergence of Shafiq, one of the “feloul”, or “remnants” of Mubarak's regime. It seems that a majority of Copts as well as many others chose to vote for Shafiq fearing the Islamization of the country and seeking stability.
Netizens have been strongly divided over Ahmed Shafiq's success.

Ahmed Shafiq press conference, 14/5/2012. Image by Virginie Nguyen (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

In a blog post entitled “It is Time of Silence”, Zeinab Mohamed wrote:

My only consolation is that from 90 million Egyptians only 50% of the eligible voters in the country (50 million) participated in this election so we are speaking about 25 million voters only, the historical elections that reminds me of the Six-Day War defeat.
I do not have any words, it is like choosing between two hells: the Muslim brotherhood or Shafiq!!!
We are all to blame especially the #Jan25 Revolutionaries who sat back in bubbly Cairo ‘that voted for Shafiq’ and in their closed social networks realms. We are responsible for this without doubt.
I do not want to speak now but one thing for sure I feel my generation has the same feeling that the 1967 generation felt and I am afraid of that feeling.

Shafiq campaign poster near Shafiq headquarters sprayed with "feloul". Image from Al Jazeera Live Blog (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Hafsa Halawa tweeted angrily:

@Hhafoos: #mubarak is pissin his pants from laughter right now…

Caricature artist Ahmed El Massry expressed his disappointment:

@AElMassry: بعد النتيجه دى يبقى بقى ‎‫#احنا_اسفين_يا_شهداء‬‏

After this result, we are sorry, martyrs

Egyptian-American journalist Reem Abdellatif warned:

@Reem_Abdellatif: Political experts i've talked to expect #Egypt to head toward collision w/ “demos, violence, claims of fraud” if #Shafiq wins.

Other people, on the other hand, support Ahmed Shafiq and celebrated his win. Expatriate businessman Ashraf Ismail explained why he supports Shafiq:

Mr Shafiq has a both conservative and liberal way of thinking and is known to be a very practical person aiming to bring stability to the country and solid investments. Whereas Mr Morsi is an Islamist hardliner with an affiliation to a group that has a deceitful history full of violence.
In terms of future investments and socio-economic development programmes, it is widely envisaged that Egypt’s economy will rapidly grow under Mr Shafiq’s development progamme. Others do have reservations and fears about the state of affairs that Egypt will go through should Mr Morsi wins this race.

Ranya Khalifa pointed out:

@RanyaKhalifa: Stop blaming Copts for #Shafiq's rise!! If you want a “democracy” then don't take it piecemeal..Egyptians are free to choose whom they want!

Journalist Rawya Rageh quoted Shafiq:

@RawyaRageh: #Shafiq: No such thing as I'm affiliated to the old regime, if we say so, then the whole of #Egypt is. We need to grow up, drop this issue.

Although some revolutionary factions warned they will take to the streets if Ahmed Shafiq wins, the leader of Al Nour Party, Egypt's major Salafist party said that they would not protest.
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Elections 2011/2012.

Written by Salah Almhamdi Global Voices

Egypt: Candidate Abul-Fotouch fears voter buyout

Presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh held a popular campaign rally in the town of Nagaa Hammadi in the governorate of Qena Friday.
"If this country is ruled again by the imbeciles and the corrupt, it will be an infringement on the revolution," Abul-Fotouh said during the speech he made at the rally.
Abul-Fotouh, who announced in June 2011 that he intended to run for the highest office in Egypt, submitted his presidential candidacy application Thursday to the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission in Cairo.
"The idea of an extremist regime ruling Egypt is inconceivable. There is no religious or secular extremism in Egypt. Egyptians are centrists by nature," he added.
Abul-Fotouh also warned that the upcoming presidential elections in the country faces the "danger of buying out popular will," as he called on the Egyptian people to choose their candidate with integrity in order to protect the revolution from the "incursion of political money in polls."
Abul-Fotouh is a practicing physician with extensive experience in relief work on an international level, a prominent Islamist activist and a former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, also known for his liberal positions on social issues.
Egypt's first presidential elections following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in the January 25 Revolution will take place 23-24 May, with the president named on 21 June after a runoff voting round, if necessary, on 16-17 June.