CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s newly elected president has read the oath of office in Tahrir Square and defied the country’s military rulers by saying, “I fear no one but God.”

Mohammed Morsi addressed tens of thousands of mostly Islamist supporters Saturday in a strongly worded speech.

He spoke on the eve of his official swearing-in ceremony that was scheduled in front of a high court. But many protesters called on him to take the oath in the square to defy the ruling generals who took power after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

Morsi vowed that the power of people is above all and that no one can take away the president’s authorities

The ruling generals said they will transfer power to an elected president by July 1. But days before Morsi was declared winner, they gave themselves sweeping powers that undercut the authority of the president. The generals’ constitutional declaration also designated them the country’s legislature, following a court decision that dissolved the country’s first freely elected parliament that was dominated by Islamists.

Protesters took to the streets, demanding that the generals rescind the declaration and reinstate the parliament.

Morsi’s first test in his power struggle with the generals will be the venue of his oath-taking ceremony.

He will be sworn in before a high court Saturday. Traditionally, presidents are to be sworn in before parliament. For many of the protesters, Morsi’s swearing-in before the court, as dictated by the generals’ constitutional declaration, was a concession to the military.

“We demand from the president of the republic that he calls off the constitutional declaration, reinstate the parliament as it was, and to stand here among us to be sworn in and swear he has all his powers,” said a preacher in the square who addressed the crowd before Morsi arrived.

“From now on, we make our demands to the president of the republic, not the military council. The military council no longer rules Egypt.”

Ali said Morsi’s agreement to take oath before the court does not mean the battle to regain his powers is over.

“This is an affirmation that (Morsi) respects the law and constitution,” he said. “It doesn’t mean approval of the declaration.”

Speaking to newspapers editors Thursday, Morsi said there are still discussions on how to on how to implement the law dissolving the parliament. The court decision declared a third of the elected seats unconstitutional and Brotherhood lawyers argue it is still possible to only dissolve that third. Morsi urged patience.

Morsi, the first elected Islamist leader of an Arab country, is also trying to reach out to many of the liberal and secular forces that were behind the uprising. They, along with Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, fear Morsi would work to establish a religious state. Most of those powers have stayed out of the protest in Tahrir.

However, the prominent April 6 movement took part in the square protest.

“We should be patient with one another, two, three or four years, and try to live together in this atmosphere of freedom and democracy after the revolution,” he told the editors, according to comments published in the state-run Al-Ahram daily. “This is definitely a better atmosphere than before. But there are big challenges.”

Before heading to Tahrir, Morsi prayed in Al-Azhar mosque. Al-Azhar is the Sunni world’s most prestigious learning institution, and represents moderate Islam. Morsi’s visit there is an acknowledgement of respect to the institution.

Protesters in the square chanted, “The military council should leave tonight,” and, “The president takes the oath in the square.”

SOURCE:shreveporttimes.com

Egypt’s ruling military council reaffirmed on Monday that it will transfer power to civilian authority by the end of the month, but Egypt analysts warn that the nation could be teetering toward another political crisis as a standoff brews between the interim military rulers and Islamists.

As Egyptians celebrated the apparent victory of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi in Tahrir Square, the nation’s military power issued an addition to its constitutional declaration that limits the president’s powers in overseeing the military and puts legislative affairs in the generals’ hands.

“The military is clearly trying to turn the clock back to what existed under the Mubarak regime,” said Marina Ottaway, a Middle East analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “What is clear more and more is that the military sacrificed (Hosni) Mubarak to maintain the power of the old establishment.”

Mubarak was driven from office more than a year ago by a revolt. Since then, Islamist parties have emerged as the strongest political force in Egypt, alarming many in the powerful military establishment who seem eager to maintain control.

In Washington, the Obama administration expressed concerns about the move by the Egyptian military, which was foreshadowed by an Egyptian court decision last week to dissolve the parliament.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said that the U.S. is “deeply concerned” about the constitutional declaration and that the administration would encourage Egyptian officials “to relinquish power to civilian elected authorities.”

“This is a critical moment in Egypt, and the world is watching closely,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. “We are particularly concerned by decisions that appear to prolong the military’s hold on power.”

The military’s decision to take charge of writing the constitution was a challenge to the democratic process, Egypt analysts said.

“I would call it a paper coup,” said Eric Trager, an Egypt analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “The questions now are: ‘Will there be mass protests? Will there be some type of accommodation between the Brotherhood and the military?’ “

Morsi’s victory hasn’t been certified, and his main challenger, Ahmed Shafiq, is disputing the Brotherhood win. Official election results are scheduled to be announced Thursday.

If Morsi becomes president, he’ll have little power because of the military’s declaration.

“This is the beginning of another phase of the fight over the future of Egypt,” said Khalil Al-Anani, a Middle East expert at Durham University.

Morsi, a U.S.-educated engineer, became the Brotherhood’s presidential nominee when the organization’s first choice, Khairat Al-Shater, was barred from running on legal grounds.

It’s a remarkable turn of events for the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in 1928, the same year Mubarak was born. For many years the group — whose ideology is said to have inspired Osama bin Laden — was banned under Mubarak’s government.

“It would be the first time the Muslim Brotherhood ascended to the highest office in the land anywhere in the Arab world,” said Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Center, a think tank in Qatar. “This would be a major (and) symbolic victory for Islamist groups across the region.”

The Obama administration appears ambivalent about the Muslim Brotherhood, which has espoused virulent anti-American rhetoric throughout the years.

Representatives of the group met with State Department and White House officials in Washington this year, but FBI Director Robert Mueller noted to a House committee last year that elements of the organization have supported terrorism.

The Muslim Brotherhood seeks rule by Islamic law, but not necessarily a fundamentalist interpretation of it. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood are more moderate than hard-liners known as Salafis, who follow a seventh-century view of Islam.

Morsi has said he will respect the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Morsi has complained, however, that Israel repeatedly breaks the treaty.

The Brotherhood has said it believes in free-market economic policies, and it says it will build the nation by focusing on education, individual empowerment and the private sector.

“I think you will see some possible cultural and social changes,” said Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations. “Although I don’t know how aggressive they’ll be.”

SOURCE:USA TODAY

Egypt’s presidential election appears neck-and-neck with both candidates claiming victory based on unofficial results.

The campaign for Ahmed Shafiq, Hosni Mubarak’s former prime minister, said on Monday its candidate was ahead in the presidential race “beyond all doubts” just hours after the Muslim Brotherhood had claimed its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, was ahead.

“The initial indications of the Ahmed Shafiq campaign prove beyond all doubt that he is ahead in the elections despite all the violations,” a spokesman for his campaign said in a statement.

He said Shafiq had won between 51 per cent and 52 per cent of the vote.

Earlier, the Muslim Brotherhood held a press conference to announce Morsi’s victory. With 12,793 of the country’s roughly 13,000 polling stations reporting, Morsi had 12.7 million votes, while his opponent, Ahmed Shafiq, had 11.84 million, the group said.Morsi’s staff and supporters broke into chants of “down with military rule” after the results were announced.

He also spoke. He addressed the families of the martyrs killed during the revolution, and promised to restore their rights in a “state of laws”.

He also reached out to Egypt’s Coptic Christians, promising that everyone would be part of “his family”. He also said he was not looking for “revenge”, and promised to work for all Egyptians.

“Thank God, who guided the people of Egypt to this right path, the path of freedom and democracy,” he said, vowing to work for a “civil, democratic, constitutional and modern state”.

The Brotherhood’s numbers matched with other unofficial tallies from local and international media. Shortly after 3am local time [00:00 GMT], Al Jazeera’s tally had Morsi leading with 7,896,440 votes (52 per cent), and Shafiq trailing with 7,152,894.Done deal’

Just hours after the Muslim Brotherhood declared it’s candidate will be Egypt’s next president Morsi supporters started gathering in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

Rawya Rageh, our correspondent in Cairo, said: “The official schedule as per the Supreme Presidential Election Commission for the results to be announced is on the 21st of June, but as we have seen from previous elections the MB have a powerful organisation representatives at polling stations and almost always their figures turn out to be accurate.

“We are already seeing the celebrations images from Morsi supporters in Tahrir Square for them this is a done deal.”

El-Shorouk, an independent Egyptian daily, had Morsi with 6,820,944 votes, and Shafiq with 5,490,158, a margin of 55 per cent for Morsi.
All of the results released on Sunday night are unofficial and a final tally will not come out until later this week.

Representatives from Shafiq’s campaign told several local media outlets that they would not accept the Brotherhood’s tally, and would wait for final results.

In a statement, Shafiq, the final prime minister under deposed president Hosni Mubarak, also accused the Brotherhood of fraud.

“The Muslim Brotherhood supporters offered large sums of money and food supplies to bribe voters into voting for MB’s candidate Mohammed Morsi,” the statement said. “They used intimidation, threats and violence against supporters of candidate Ahmed Shafiq.”

Turnout was lower than during the first round of voting in May, according to Hatem Bagato, the secretary-general of the presidential election commission, who held a press conference in Cairo on Sunday. About  46 per cent of Egypt’s 51 million eligible voters cast their ballots during the first round.

SCAF issues its constitutional annex

The new president will take office amid great political uncertainty.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Egypt’s military rulers, added to the confusion on Sunday night, when they released their long-awaited “constitutional annex”, a decree outlining the powers of the new president.

Those powers are quite limited: He may declare war, for example, only after seeking SCAF’s approval. The decree also reminds the president that he can call on the military to quell “unrest” inside the country.

SCAF dissolved parliament last week following a ruling by the supreme court, which found the legislature unconstitutional. The court ruled that provisions of the electoral law – which allowed political parties to compete for seats reserved for independent candidates – violated the constitution.

With the legislature gone, the generals reasserted control over the legislative process, and over the country’s budget.

“The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces shall exercise the powers referred to under the first clause of article 56 [the article on legislative power]… until the election of a new People’s Assembly,” the decree states.

The decree issued on Sunday promises fresh legislative elections, but not until a new constitution has been drafted. Before it was dissolved, the parliament appointed a 100-member assembly to draft that constitution; it will be allowed to continue its work, though if it runs into “obstacles”, SCAF will appoint a replacement.

The Muslim Brotherhood was quick to condemn the decree, calling it “null and unconstitutional” in a brief statement on Twitter. Asked about the decree during the group’s press conference, Ahmed Abdel-Atti, Morsi’s campaign co-ordinator, said he expected “popular action” against it in the near future.

SOURCE:ALJAZEERA