Rival sides claim victory in Egypt's first presidential polls
Egypt's first free presidential election results was mired in controversy with the Muslim Brotherhood and the campaign for ousted ruler Hosni Mubarak's former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq claiming victory.
The Muslim Brotherhood held a press conference to announce that its candidate Mohammed Morsi was ahead, and within hours Shafiq's campaign too issued a statement saying that he was ahead "beyond doubt".
"The initial indications of the Ahmed Shafiq campaign prove beyond all doubt that he is ahead in the elections despite all the violations," a spokesman for his campaign said in a statement.
The statement said that Shafiq had won between 51 per cent and 52 per cent of the vote.
Morsi's group said that he had bagged 12.7 million votes, while his opponent, Ahmed Shafiq, had 11.84 million votes.
His supporters broke into chants of "down with military rule" as the results were announced. Addressing the families of protesters killed during the movement to oust Mubarak, Morsi promised to restore their rights in a "state of laws".
The US-educated engineer also promised Egypt's Coptic Christians that everyone would be part of "his family" and promised he would not follow a policy of vendetta against opponents.
Meanwhile, an aide to Shafiq refused to concede defeat and accused Morsi of "hijacking the election."
The election results were clouded with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issuing a decree Sunday setting strict limits on the powers of head of state. The move was denounced as a "military coup".
Source:The Africa News.Net
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