(MintPress) — The Muslim Brotherhood party claimed victory Monday in Egypt’s first democratic elections. While official results will be announced Thursday, major news sources declare the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Mohammad Morsi the victor in a race that pitted the Islamist candidate against the old guard, Mubarak-era challenger, Ahmed Shafiq.
While Egyptians were successful in ousting long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak, in just 18 days during 2011 protests, the subsequent struggle to establish a citizen-led democratic government has been hampered by the military establishment, hesitant to relinquish control. Recent decisions by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) have placed significant restrictions on the power of the president and the Parliament to effectively govern.
Early results
Although the official results will be announced later this week, most sources, including news outlet Al Jazeera, found Mohammad Morsi winning the election with 12.7 million votes, 52.2 percent of the total. The remarkable turnout for Shafiq, Prime Minister during Mubarak’s rule, is startling for a revolution that has worked tirelessly for a year and a half to remove the vestiges of the old regime.
However, the Shafiq camp has not conceded defeat, opposing any definite pronouncements that call Morsi the winner. Shafiq’s campaign has claimed that their candidate has captured 52 percent of the vote and that declarations by the Islamist candidate are designed to “usurp” the presidency.
“What the other candidate has done threatens Egypt’s future and stability,” Shafiq added in a recent statement.
The recent presidential runoff election between Morsi and Shafiq comes after a first round of voting in May. Thirteen candidates were on the ballot. The top two finishers gaining a plurality of the vote were of course Morsi with 24.7 percent if the vote and Shafiq with 23.6 percent.
Around 50 percent of voters did not cast a ballot for either Shafiq or Morsi in the first round of voting in May. Stacey Philbrick Yadav, who directs the Middle Eastern Studies program at Hobart & William Smith Colleges, expressed surprise that so many voted for Shafiq in the second round, given his clear ties to the old regime. However, she is wary of interpreting the results for either candidate as a direct measure of support for their respective political messages.
“At least some Morsi votes reflect a rejection of Shafiq as an emblem of the old regime more than an endorsement of the Brotherhood’s platform. Similarly, votes for Shafiq also reflect anxieties about a Brotherhood presidency. For a very large number of Egyptians, the second round was a choice between two undesirable candidates, with tradeoffs between the two,” adds Professor Philbrick-Yadav in a recent MintPress statement.
Win or lose, the strong support for a candidate connected with the old regime comes as a shock to those who saw the revolution as widely supported by the majority of Egyptians.
The MB and democracy
Shortly after his alleged victory, Morsi sought to allay the fears of those questioning the Brotherhood’s commitments to democracy and minority rights. In a recent public statement, Morsi declared, “Stability, love and brotherhood for the Egyptian civil, national, democratic, constitutional and modern state.”
On domestic issues, Morsi has committed himself to creating a “democratic, civil and modern state” with freedom of religion and freedom to protest. Some have blamed The Brotherhood of paying lip-service to democratic values as a means to later implement conservative religious law. For many within Egypt’s 8 million strong Coptic Christian minority, the concern continues to be minority rights amidst uncertain security and sectarian violence.
For example, a violent confrontation between citizens and security forces in Cairo in October 2011, led to the death of 24, most of whom were Coptic Christians. Other attacks on churches have left dozens dead and unsettled a country trying to establish a new, more democratic government.
However, Morsi has said that he would include Coptic Christians in his cabinet, going so far as to say that he would consider having a Vice President who was Christian. However, the Muslim Brotherhood has stopped short of promoting women and religious minorities for the presidency, believing that this position should be reserved for a Muslim male.
In terms of foreign policy, Morsi has said previously that he would uphold the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, but would not meet with Israeli politicians or diplomats. The Muslim Brotherhood has long advocated for the rights of the Palestinian people to form an independent state.
Additionally, The Muslim Brotherhood’s suddenly inclusion in electoral politics brings to light splits within a party struggling with internal doctrinal and generational differences. The party is viewed by many Egyptians as the visible, viable antithesis to Mubarak-era leadership and has been shaped by some more conservative salafist groups, as well as moderates who want to fashion a more liberal-Islamist party.
Presidential powers in post-Mubarak Egypt
The United States resumed sending military aid to Egypt in March, a controversial decision given the reluctance by the SCAF to fully relinquish power to citizen led government. After Israel, Egypt is the number two recipient of foreign aid, receiving $1.5 billion annually during the rule of Hosni Mubarak. The decision upset many within Egypt who said that the resumption of aid was premature, given legitimacy and strength to military rule.
On Sunday, the leaders of Egypt’s military issued a constitutional decree granting expansive powers to the military and severely limited the power of the president to a “subservient” role, according to a recent Washington Post article.
The BBC’s Jon Leyne, reporting from Cairo, speaks about the strength of the military in Egypt saying, “It is hugely significant, they [the military] pulled back a huge portion of power for themselves. Opposition figures are saying that this is really a military coup, setting back all the gains of the revolution… The military will now have the power to draft laws, they will have control of the budget, and they even have a veto over the new constitution.”
On Monday, Major General Mohammed al-Assar, a senior member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), announced that the military would hand over power to a civilian government in a “grand ceremony” at the end of June, but would not specify a time or place. He continued, saying, “We’ll never tire or be bored from assuring everyone that we will hand over power before the end of June.”
Although the commitments of al-Assar, and others in SCAF may be genuine, the “power transfer” may be more symbolic if it is not coupled with significant legislative and budgetary reform.