EGYPT - NO CHANGE, ARMY DECREES ITSELF NEW POWERS

Morsi camp claims Egypt presidency win
Brotherhood claims victory based on unofficial tallies, but SCAF decree limiting presidential powers overshadows count.
Last Modified: 18 Jun 2012 06:56

The Muslim Brotherhood has declared their candidate, Mohammed Morsi, the winner of Egypt's presidential runoff, and unofficial vote tallies show him leading the race by more than one million votes.

The group held a press conference early on Monday morning 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.

His staff and supporters broke into chants of "down with military rule" after the results were announced.

Morsi himself 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.

The 'constitutional annex'

The decree issued by Egypt's military rulers on Sunday night sharply limits the powers of the incoming president:

The generals will keep the power to write laws and set the budget until a legislature is elected;

The president cannot declare war unless he receives SCAF's approval;

The president can use the army to quell "unrest," but only with their approval;

SCAF can appoint a new constitutional assembly if the current one faces "obstacles." The assembly will draft a constitution, which will then be subject to a public referendum.

Legislative elections will be held within one month after the new constitution is adopted.

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.

Conflicting reports about whether Mubarak has died
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 20, 2012 -- Updated 0023 GMT (0823 HKT)
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, 84, is declared clinically dead on Tuesday, June 19, shortly after arriving at a military hospital in Cairo, according to Egypt's state-run news agency. A military official disputes the report and says Mubarak is in critical condition.

A general and Mubarak's lawyer say he is not dead
State-run Middle East News Agency, citing medical sources, says he's dead
Mubarak's attorney: "He has suffered a stroke but he is not dead"

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Reports conflicted Wednesday over whether the 84-year-old former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, was clinically dead.
The state-run Middle East News Agency, citing medical sources, said he was declared clinically dead shortly after arriving late Tuesday at a military hospital in Cairo, where he had been taken after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest earlier in the day.
But Gen. Mamdouh Shaheen, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, told CNN, "He is not clinically dead as reported, but his health is deteriorating and he is in critical condition."
Mubarak was taken by helicopter to the military hospital in the Maadi suburb of Cairo, Shaheen said. "He had a heart attack and his heart stopped and he was saved by electric shocks, then placed on respirator," he said. "His pulse is 40. He then got a brain clot. He is NOT clinically dead as reported but his health is deteriorating and he is in critical condition."
And Mubarak's lawyer, Fareed El Deeb, told CNN, "He has been in a coma for hours now. He has had water on the lungs for 10 days now and his blood pressure is down today, which obstructed his breathing and forced doctors to put him on a respirator. He was given medicine intravenously to relieve the brain clot, and electric shocks were used to revive him but there was no substantial response. He is not dead as reported."
El Deeb added that Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, was at his side. He blamed SCAF for not having moved Mubarak last week from the prison to the hospital.
Adel Saeed, the official spokesman of the Egyptian prosecutor, had said earlier, "We were informed by prison authority that Mubarak's heart has stopped and they used electric shocks and CPR to resurrect him. He is now on an artificial respirator and doctors from the armed forces and International Medical Center will inspect him."
Nile TV reported that Mubarak had suffered a stroke.
He was taken from Tora prison hospital to Maadi military hospital, El Deeb told CNN. "He has suffered a stroke, but he is not dead."
The prosecutor and the military council denied Mubarak had been moved.
His health had been reported in decline since he was ousted as president of Egypt in February 2011 and found guilty of charges related to the killings of hundreds of anti-government demonstrators during the revolution.
Last week, an Interior Ministry spokesman said he was comatose; the spokesman said he suffered from high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats and difficulty breathing.
"We should be skeptical," said Fouad Ajami, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
"There's a great Arab expression I like and it asks the following question: When you're told that someone is dead, you say, 'Is he dead and buried, or just dead?' I think we are in the middle of this kind of situation."
"Clinically dead is not a phrase that is commonly used, but when it is used, what it usually means is that someone is brain dead," said CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. "In the United States, we would call this person dead because they have no brain activity."
Meanwhile, crowds jammed Tahrir Square once again on Wednesday. But their focus this time was not on Mubarak. Instead, it was on the power grab by the Egyptian military, which last week issued a constitutional decree that stripped the position of president of much of its power after a top court dissolved the parliament. Those moves were followed by the nation's first presidential election, which pitted Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi against Mubarak's former prime minister, Ahmed Safik. Final results have not been announced.
"It's a media stunt to divert attention from the constitutional decree," said Taha Shaker, a demonstrator in the square. "If he's really dead, it won't make a difference. We've started a sit-in and won't leave unless the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces leaves unconditionally."
"I've come from far away. I'm not leaving until Morsi swears the oath in front of the legitimately elected parliament," said demonstrator Sayed Ahmed. "I don't care about Mubarak. These are games played by the intelligence services."
"If he's really dead, its God's will," said Nasser Shaaban, another demonstrator. "I would hope he lives to see the new president."
Outside Maadi Military Hospital, shortly before midnight Tuesday, there was no additional security. Instead, there were a few policemen outside the main gate and two military police inside the gate. Across the street perhaps a half-dozen journalists sat on the curb smoking cigarettes.

rhodes wrote:you could see this coming a mile off couldn't you?

More piggies in a trough who won't give their power up

rhodes wrote:I think the army are quite happy being in power