Vote results today, Egypt vows

But power struggle among varied factions expected to persist

Protesters shout on Saturday in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, while Egyptians await the announcement of presidential runoff election results.
Protesters shout on Saturday in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, while Egyptians await the announcement of presidential runoff election results.

— Egypt will release results from disputed presidential elections today, the country’s top elections commission official said — an announcement that will put an end to the country’s nervewracking uncertainty about who is the official winner, but promises no end to the power struggles among Islamists, the military and other factions.

Secular-leaning politicians gathered Saturday and criticized what they said was U.S. meddling on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has claimed victory. Other secularists have stood behind the Islamist group, calling it the likely legitimate winner and the best hope in the current circumstances against continued military domination of the country.

The dispute highlights how the country has been split into deeply polarized camps since the June 16-17 runoff vote between the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Mohammed Morsi, and ousted leader Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, with both campaigns claiming victory by a narrow margin.

Many Egyptians have rallied behind Morsi as a chance to finally rid the country of the old Mubarak regime, while others support Shafiq as the best bet to counter Islamists and restore order after a year of protests, economic hardship, and fear about crime and continued instability.

But there is little hope that the results will lead to an end to 16 months of political turmoil. A Morsi victory will likely see the new civilian government fight for its authority against a military that has ensured its powers persist past the transition. A Shafiq victory will be seen by large sections of the public as illegitimate, as he is perceived as the favored candidate of the military rulers that appointed the election commission.

The commission postponed release of official results that had been scheduled to be announced Thursday, leading to speculation that the military rulers are using the results as a bargaining chip in backroom negotiations with the Brotherhood about a postelection division of powers.

In addition to a Morsi or Shafiq victory, a third possibility is that Egypt remains in political limbo: The elections commission may decide to annul the runoff vote and call for new elections in some or all constituencies because to allegations of irregularities by both sides.

Farouk Sultan, the head of the Supreme Presidential Election Commission, said Saturday that the results would be announced today but did not give further details.

Underlying the tensions are a series of rulings and decrees just before and during the vote that have been perceived as a push by the military to monopolize power and leave the president with only limited authority.

The military has pledged to hand over power to civilian rule by July 1. But on June 15, the country’s highest court dissolved the country’s Islamistled parliament, calling the law under which it had been elected unconstitutional. Two days later the generals issued a declaration in which they gave themselves legislative powers, including control over drafting a constitution.

On Saturday, Maj. Gen. Mahmdouh Shaheen, a member of the ruling council and its legal adviser, would not comment on negotiations with the Brotherhood. He said there are no plans to amend the constitutional declaration entrenching the executive and legislative powers of the generals.

Brotherhood leaders say the military is holding the election results hostage to get the movement to accept the power grab.

The Islamist group has compiled what it says is a detailed breakdown of election results proving Morsi’s victory. Brotherhood leaders have called their followers to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising that overthrew Mubarak. Along with some secular-leaning activist groups, the protesters have vowed “a new revolution” if Shafiq is the winner, claiming that a loss would prove that election fraud was orchestrated by the military.

Meanwhile, the ruling generals accused Islamists of stirring tension and threatened to crack down on any violence by any group unhappy with the election outcome.

For the sixth-straight day, thousands of Morsi supporters and critics of the military held a rally in Tahrir Square, endorsing his victory and calling on the military to rescind its recent decisions and restore the dissolved parliament.

Across town, thousands of supporters of Shafiq and the military held a parallel rally in Nasr City, north of Cairo, outside the parade reviewing stands where former president Anwar Sadat was assassinated by radical Islamists in 1981. This was the largest show of force by pro-Shafiq, pro-military demonstrators since the election.

They raised Egyptian flags and posters of Shafiq and chanted, “Down, down with the rule of the Guide,” referring to the title of the Brotherhood movement’s leader.

Rumors have circulated about preparations for violence by both sides, feeding the tense atmosphere. Posters on the social-networking sites of Facebook and Twitter warned Egyptians that the security apparatus is training thugs inside their camps to use them to break up protests when the results are announced.

The independent Al-Youm Al-Sabaa daily’s website said that authorities reinforced the security presence near the headquarters of the elections commission, deploying troops and explosives experts.

Groups who have opposed both Mubarak and the Islamists — liberals, leftists, secularists, and others — are divided.

Some youth groups and liberal figures say they have joined ranks with Islamists for the sake of democracy. They say they have received assurances from Morsi that he will form a national unity government headed by an independent.

Others accuse the Brotherhood of “hijacking” the revolution and accused the United States of trying to sway the results in favor of Islamists.

On Saturday, a bloc of liberal and leftist parties represented in the disbanded parliament— the Free Egyptians, the Tagammu, and the National Democratic Front — held a news conference accusing the Brotherhood of trying to blackmail elections officials with street demonstrations.

“We have to protect the revolution from those who want to hijack it,” said Osama el-Ghazali Harb of the Democratic Front said. “The rallies in the square reflect only lack of confidence, and an attempt to force the results in advance. ... Real democracy means the courage to accept defeat.”

Many liberals see the Brotherhood’s newfound spirit of confrontation and inclusiveness as hypocritical. The Brotherhood backed the military’s transition plan throughout most of last year and also was perceived as tryin to dominate the drafting of the constitution.

During Saturday’s news conference, liberals accused the United States of putting pressure on the ruling military council to hand power to the Brotherhood.

“We have seen the U.S. forcing military council to hand power to the Brotherhood,” Harb said.

U.S. officials had earlier expressed concern that a Shafiq victory could have dangerous fallout, with protests and ensuing instability that could lead the military to take even stronger measures. The officials spoke earlier on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Information for this article was contributed by Sarah El Deeb of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 8 on 06/24/2012

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