Muslim Brotherhood wins election, takes control of Egypt
Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, has come out as the victor in Egypt’s election to replace the ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
photo/Forcalgeria via wikimedia commons
Sunday Egypt’s election commission announced that the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate had won the country’s first contested presidential election, making him the first Islamist president in the Arab world.
He defeated ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq by a margin of 4 percent, just shy of 1 million votes.
Tahrir Square, the birthplace of last year’s revolution that deposed Mubarak and the site of several large pro-Morsi demonstrations in recent days, exploded with jubilation.
Tens of thousands had gathered to hear the results, which were followed by an ear-splitting cacophony of fireworks, horns and honking that continued for hours after they were released.
In his victory speech Sunday night, Morsi spoke at length about the historic nature of the election and calling for national unity.
“I’m your president, but not without you. I’m your president, but I’m not the best of you,” he said.
The LA Times detailed the landmark victory — Morsi won 51.7% of the vote, describing the effort as the culmination of an 84-year effort by the Brotherhood, which maintains a network of religious and social programs to build a potent political front.
That ambition is at the heart of the conflict between political Islam and a secular old guard that is certain to influence governments emerging from rebellions that have shaken the Middle East and North Africa since early 2011.
Egypt had been a pressure cooker since last weekend’s historic election, with both candidates declaring victory and speculation growing that despite a projected win for Morsi, Shafiq would be named the winner.
[…] has been roiled by violence since mid-2013 when Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader – was overthrown and imprisoned in a bloody military […]