CAIRO, May 25, 2012 (AFP)
CAIRO, May 25, 2012 (AFP)
Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi and ex-prime minister Ahmed Shafiq will contest Egypt’s presidential run-off vote, the Brotherhood said on Friday, citing final tallies.
“We have complete numbers now. Complete, after adding expatriate votes, Brotherhood official Essam al-Erian told a press conference, saying it was “completely clear” that Mursi and Shafiq had topped the presidential vote.
“In light of the first results that gave our candidate first place, we prostrate to God in thanks,” the group said in a statement.
However, Erian warned that the “nation is in danger” if Shafiq wins the presidency. The group will start a dialogue with failed candidates in a bid to “save our revolution,” he said.
The Brotherhood mobilised its formidable network of supporters to monitor vote-counting across the country after the ballot, Egypt’s first presidential vote since the 2011 uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak.
The group’s monitors began feeding the results of the vote to the organisation’s headquarters shortly after counting started, providing details that are believed to be accurate.
The count quickly put Mursi ahead of his competitors, with Shafiq emerging as the runner-up by Friday morning, as ballots were tabulated across 13,000 polling stations in the Arab world’s most populous nation.
A substitute candidate for the Brotherhood, after their first choice was disqualified, Mursi was written off by many observers as uncharismatic and unlikely to fare well in a field of 13 hopefuls.
But the Brotherhood appeared to have successfully harnessed the power of their resources and deep organisational structures throughout Egypt in the two-day vote, the country’s first free presidential ballot.
