[h=3]By MATT BRADLEY, CHARLES LEVINSON and TAMER EL GHOBASHY[/h]CAIRO—Egypt's interim ruling military council pledged to honor its promise to hand over power by the end of this month, hours after Islamist candidate Mohammed Morsi claimed victory in the first free presidential vote since the ouster of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.
Major-General Mohamed El Assar, a member of the interim ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, tried to assuage widespread concerns that a constitutional declaration, which came only a few days after Egypt's highest court dissolved its parliament, amounted to a military coup.
Egyptians awoke on Monday morning to media reports that the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi was poised to win the race for Egypt's presidency, an office whose powers were dramatically diminished by the constitutional declaration.
Mr. Morsi's supporters danced in the streets throughout downtown Cairo after he claimed victory in a predawn news conference on Monday morning, chanting "free revolutionaries will complete the journey!" and "down with military rule!".
Mr. Morsi won 52.5 % of the vote versus Mr. Shafiq's 47.5% with nearly 98% of polling stations counted, said a Morsi campaign spokesman.
Mr. Morsi's claim to victory was based on his own party's tally of votes they say they observed being counted.
His opponent, however, disputed Mr. Morsi's claim to have won. Representatives of Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force general and the final prime minister of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, declared on Monday that the Brotherhood's election results were illegitimate.
Ahmed Sarhan, a spokesman for Mr. Shafiq's campaign, said Monday morning that the Brotherhood was only leading by 52% to Mr. Shafiq's 51.5%.
If Mr. Morsi is indeed declared Egypt's first post-revolutionary president, he assumes an office endowed with only a sliver of the powers enjoyed by his predecessor Mr. Mubarak.
The open questions facing Egypt's political class now are whether the Brotherhood will ultimately accept a neutered presidency and whether the military regime, which has spent the past several months parrying successive Brotherhood attacks on its political dominance, will accept an Islamist president.
At the news conference, the generals once again held themselves up as guarantors of national stability—an image they have cultivated since taking the reins of power from Mr. Mubarak last February.
Egypt's incoming president, Major General Assar said, would still retain the power to appoint ministers and veto legislation, despite that the legislative authority the SCAF has assumed.
"Everyone is blowing this out of proportion," he said. "No one will return Egypt to the past, no matter who wins the presidency."
But the declaration, and Mr. Morsi's potential victory, have set up a serious point of tension between the military and Islamist politicians only two weeks before the military yields its executive power to an elected president.
Representatives for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said they are intent on fighting the constitutional declaration, which gives the military and courts final say over broad swaths of domestic and foreign policy as well as the process of drafting Egypt's new constitution.
The organization's executive office was "in daily meetings" to discuss their next steps, said spokesman Mourad Mohammed Ali, but he wasn't aware of any direct negotiations with the military.
"We believe that it is against the democracy and the people's choice," Mr. Ali said. "The people have the right to make their own constitution. Now we find that SCAF will take over all these responsibilities even though they are not an elected body and they don't have this right."
The military tried to clarify parts of the constitutional decree that appeared to give them complete control over the selection of the constitutional writing committee.
The current committee that was composed by the now-defunct parliament will be allowed to compose the constitution, but will be disbanded if they cannot function effectively for any reason, said Major General Assar. In that case, the generals will assume the responsibility of building a new committee.
Egypt's political fragility—extended once again this week—may further damage Egypt's already cratering economy.
16 months of uncertain military-led economic policy have sent investors scurrying. The Brotherhood's conflict with the military-led regime has also delayed negotiations for a $3.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund that could restore investor confidence and help shore up the country's diminishing foreign currency reserves.
The Brotherhood has for months dangled the IMF loan in front of the military-appointed cabinet of ministers, demanding that they be replaced by appointees from Islamist-dominated parliament before the Brotherhood agrees to sign the loan's terms. The IMF has said they would not accede to the loan unless a broad spectrum of political forces accept it.
"From an investor perspective, the key concerns are that the recent developments will delay much- needed economic reforms and, more immediately, an agreement with the IMF over a $3.2bn loan," according to a note released Monday by the London-based Capital Economics. "After all, broad political support is one of the main conditions required by the Fund. Meanwhile, the lack of decision-making powers for the new government means that introducing economic reforms is unlikely."
Write to Matt Bradley at [email protected] and Charles Levinson at [email protected]
Major-General Mohamed El Assar, a member of the interim ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, tried to assuage widespread concerns that a constitutional declaration, which came only a few days after Egypt's highest court dissolved its parliament, amounted to a military coup.
Egyptians awoke on Monday morning to media reports that the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi was poised to win the race for Egypt's presidency, an office whose powers were dramatically diminished by the constitutional declaration.
Mr. Morsi's supporters danced in the streets throughout downtown Cairo after he claimed victory in a predawn news conference on Monday morning, chanting "free revolutionaries will complete the journey!" and "down with military rule!".
Mr. Morsi won 52.5 % of the vote versus Mr. Shafiq's 47.5% with nearly 98% of polling stations counted, said a Morsi campaign spokesman.
Mr. Morsi's claim to victory was based on his own party's tally of votes they say they observed being counted.
His opponent, however, disputed Mr. Morsi's claim to have won. Representatives of Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force general and the final prime minister of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, declared on Monday that the Brotherhood's election results were illegitimate.
Ahmed Sarhan, a spokesman for Mr. Shafiq's campaign, said Monday morning that the Brotherhood was only leading by 52% to Mr. Shafiq's 51.5%.
If Mr. Morsi is indeed declared Egypt's first post-revolutionary president, he assumes an office endowed with only a sliver of the powers enjoyed by his predecessor Mr. Mubarak.
The open questions facing Egypt's political class now are whether the Brotherhood will ultimately accept a neutered presidency and whether the military regime, which has spent the past several months parrying successive Brotherhood attacks on its political dominance, will accept an Islamist president.
At the news conference, the generals once again held themselves up as guarantors of national stability—an image they have cultivated since taking the reins of power from Mr. Mubarak last February.
Egypt's incoming president, Major General Assar said, would still retain the power to appoint ministers and veto legislation, despite that the legislative authority the SCAF has assumed.
"Everyone is blowing this out of proportion," he said. "No one will return Egypt to the past, no matter who wins the presidency."
But the declaration, and Mr. Morsi's potential victory, have set up a serious point of tension between the military and Islamist politicians only two weeks before the military yields its executive power to an elected president.
Representatives for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said they are intent on fighting the constitutional declaration, which gives the military and courts final say over broad swaths of domestic and foreign policy as well as the process of drafting Egypt's new constitution.
The organization's executive office was "in daily meetings" to discuss their next steps, said spokesman Mourad Mohammed Ali, but he wasn't aware of any direct negotiations with the military.
"We believe that it is against the democracy and the people's choice," Mr. Ali said. "The people have the right to make their own constitution. Now we find that SCAF will take over all these responsibilities even though they are not an elected body and they don't have this right."
The military tried to clarify parts of the constitutional decree that appeared to give them complete control over the selection of the constitutional writing committee.
The current committee that was composed by the now-defunct parliament will be allowed to compose the constitution, but will be disbanded if they cannot function effectively for any reason, said Major General Assar. In that case, the generals will assume the responsibility of building a new committee.
Egypt's political fragility—extended once again this week—may further damage Egypt's already cratering economy.
16 months of uncertain military-led economic policy have sent investors scurrying. The Brotherhood's conflict with the military-led regime has also delayed negotiations for a $3.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund that could restore investor confidence and help shore up the country's diminishing foreign currency reserves.
The Brotherhood has for months dangled the IMF loan in front of the military-appointed cabinet of ministers, demanding that they be replaced by appointees from Islamist-dominated parliament before the Brotherhood agrees to sign the loan's terms. The IMF has said they would not accede to the loan unless a broad spectrum of political forces accept it.
"From an investor perspective, the key concerns are that the recent developments will delay much- needed economic reforms and, more immediately, an agreement with the IMF over a $3.2bn loan," according to a note released Monday by the London-based Capital Economics. "After all, broad political support is one of the main conditions required by the Fund. Meanwhile, the lack of decision-making powers for the new government means that introducing economic reforms is unlikely."
Write to Matt Bradley at [email protected] and Charles Levinson at [email protected]