As rivals claim victory, Egypt postpones poll results
CAIRO Political uncertainty continued in Egypt with the announcement of results of the presidential elections postponed till early next week after both factions claiming victory approached the election commission amid continuing mystery over the health condition of former president Hosni Mubarak.
Representatives of presidential contender Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood approached the election commission with a team of 26 lawyers to file complaints, and soon after the team of rival contender Ahmad Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister who also claims to have won the elections, filed their complaint before the panel.
The Supreme Presidential Elections Commission (SPEC) said it needs "more time" to examine the appeals filed by the rival contenders.
"Egypt's presidential election commission, headed by Judge Farouq Sultan... has decided to delay the announcement of the presidential election runoff," the official MENA news agency said.
The delay in announcing the result has added to the already prevailing confusion and political uncertainty in the country, with growing apprehension about the military's expanding role.
Adding to the tension was the absence of any official news on the condition of Mubarak, who was rushed to the Maadi military hospital and reported to be ''clinically dead'' by the state-run MENA. However, his lawyer and the military later said he was alive but in coma. There was no medical bulletin Thursday.
Meanwhile, security measures have been stepped up around strategic sites.
Mohamed Morsi's staff has already created an ''official'' Facebook page for ''President Morsi'' with photos and videos of his election campaign. The page already has 50,000 ''likes".
Fearing the results might not be in their favour, the Muslim Brotherhood supported by the revolutionaries have taken to Tahrir square for the second night in a row.
Source: The Africa News.net
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