Morsi declared egyrt’s President

Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi was on Sunday declared the first president of Egypt since a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak, capping a tumultuous and divisive military-led transition.
Morsi, who ran against Mubarak-era minister Ahmed Shafiq, won 51.73 percent of the vote after a race that had polarised the nation.
“The winner of the election for Egyptian president on June 16-17 is Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-Ayat,” said head of the electoral commission Faruq Sultan.
Morsi’s victory marks the first time Islamists have taken the presidency of the Arab World’s most populous nation, but recent moves by the ruling military to consolidate its power have rendered the post toothless.
Thousands of Morsi supporters who had packed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square erupted in celebration, waving flags and posters of the Islamist leader.
“God is greatest” and “down with military rule” they chanted as some set off firecrackers minutes after the electoral commission formally declared the result.
Across Cairo, cars sounded their horns and chants of “Morsi, Morsi” were heard.
Morsi won with 13,230,131 votes against Shafiq’s 12,347,380, Sultan said. The election, in which more than 50 million voters were eligible to cast their ballot, saw a 51.8 percent turnout.
Military ruler: Military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who took power when Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign in February last year, congratulated Morsi on his win, state television announced.
Shafiq supporters who had gathered to hear the result with his campaign team in the suburbs of Cairo were devastated by the result. Some women screamed and others cried as several men held their heads between their hands in despair.
“It’s a very sad day for Egypt. I don’t think Morsi is the winner, I’m very sad that Egypt will be represented by this man and this group,” Shafiq supporter Maged told AFP after the result.
The capital was tense before the announcement, with the city’s notoriously busy streets deserted and shops and schools closed. Extra troops and police were deployed as military helicopters flew overhead. The road to parliament was closed to traffic, and security was tightened around vital establishments as Egyptians waited nervously for the result.
Welcome: Arab governments and leaders welcomed Morsi as Egypt’s first president following the ouster of Mubarak.
But in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman, Mark Regev, said his office was “not saying anything at this stage”.
There was celebratory gunfire in the Gaza Strip, which borders Egypt and is ruled by Hamas which has its roots in the Brotherhood and close ties with it.
Senior Hamas official Mahmud Zahar told AFP the victory was “a historic moment and a new era in the history of Egypt,” as Gazans cheered and fired volleys of celebratory gunfire in the streets of the coastal enclave. Zahar called Morsi’s victory “a defeat for the programme of normalisation and security cooperation with the enemy”, referring to Israel.
The Palestinian Authority also congratulated Egypt’s president-elect.
“We congratulate Doctor Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, on his win in the Egyptian presidential elections, and his election as president of Egypt,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
The United Arab Emirates likewise welcomed Morsi’s victory, urging “stability” in the north African nation, which is the Arab world’s most populous, state news agency WAM reported. The UAE, “welcomes the results of presidential elections (there) and respects the choice of the brotherly Egyptian people in their track of democracy,” said a foreign ministry statement carried by WAM.
The Gulf state “hopes all efforts to combine now towards securing stability, harmony, and cooperation among all parties … to fulfill the aspirations of the Egyptian people,” it said.