[ 2012-06-16 ]

Egyptians choose new president amid political chaos
CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt began voting on Saturday in a
divisive presidential runoff pitting ousted
strongman Hosni Mubarak's last premier against an
Islamist, two days after the top court ordered
parliament dissolved.

Some 50 million Egyptians are eligible to cast
ballots in the two-day election, which sees Ahmed
Shafiq vying for the top job against Muslim
Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi.

Long queues had already formed outside some voting
stations before the polls opened at 8:00 am (0600
GMT), with police and army deployed outside,
according to AFP reporters.

"I will vote for the one who will guarantee
security and safety for our community," said
Makram, a Coptic Christian voter, from a polling
station in the Shoubra neighbourhood.

Over in Manial, an island in the Nile, a crowd
that included veiled and unveiled women waited to
cast their ballots.

"I'm voting for Mursi because I don't want Shafiq
to win. I'm scared of Mursi but I'm more scared of
Shafiq," said Nagwan Gamal, 26, a teaching
assistant.

The voting comes against the backdrop of two
controversial court rulings on Thursday, allowing
Shafiq's candidacy to proceed despite his role in
the old regime, and invalidating Egypt's elected
parliament.

The difficult choice of candidates has garnered
support for the boycott movement, which was
largely ignored in the first round, with
celebrities and high-profile activists calling on
Egyptians to abstain or void their ballot.

Others believed boycotting would waste a historic
opportunity.

"Everyone should participate in the election. I
don't believe in boycotting," said Diana Adel, 26,
in Manial.

"I think it will be fair, and I do think it will
be historic because we're choosing a president
ourselves," she said.

The winner will be the first freely chosen
president in Egypt's history and will succeed
Mubarak, who was forced from office by a popular
revolt last year and turned power over to the
military.

Activists said the court rulings were the final
phase of a military coup that takes the democratic
transition back to square one.

"Back to where you were," read a huge red headline
in the independent daily Al-Shorouk after the
Supreme Constitutional Court said certain articles
in the law governing parliamentary elections were
invalid, annulling the Islamist-led house.

It also ruled unconstitutional the political
isolation law, which sought to bar senior members
of Mubarak's regime and top members of his
now-dissolved party from running for public office
for 10 years.

Activists opposed to Shafiq had hoped the court
would uphold the law and bar him from the
presidential race.

Shafiq had initially been barred from standing,
but the electoral commission accepted his appeal
last month, permitting his candidacy and referring
the case to the court.

Following the ruling, activists accused the ruling
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) of
staging a "counter-revolution" after a series of
measures that consolidated its power ahead of the
polls.

On Wednesday, the justice ministry decided to
grant army personnel the right to arrest civilians
after that power was lifted when a decades-old
state of emergency expired on May 31.

SCAF, "the head of the counter-revolution, is
adamant to bring back the old regime, and the
presidential elections are merely a show," six
parties and movements said in a joint statement.

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called
Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein
Tantawi late Friday to emphasize the need to move
forward with Egypt's political transition, the
Pentagon said.

Panetta called Tantawi "to discuss current events
in Egypt, including the recent Supreme
Constitutional Court ruling on the Egyptian
parliament," the Pentagon said in a statement.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a
full transfer of power to elected civilians.

"There can be no going back on the democratic
transition called for by the Egyptian people," she
told reporters in Washington.

But the State Department said separately it was
"troubled" by the court ruling ordering parliament
annulled and was studying its implications.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation in
Egypt," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told
reporters.

"If in fact the conclusion is that there need to
be new parliamentary elections our hope is that
they can happen swiftly and that they reflect the
will of the Egyptian people."

Parliament speaker Saad al-Katatni, a member of
the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice
Party won 47 percent of seats in the house, said
there were "question marks over the timing of the
ruling."

A military source said the court ruling
technically meant that the military would assume
legislative powers.

"We don't want it (the power) but, according to
the court decision and that law, it reverts back
to us," the source said.

The uncertainty promoted ratings agency Fitch to
downgrade Egypt's long-term foreign currency
rating, with a negative outlook.

The court ruling means "the political and
policy-making process has been complicated,
delaying the likely implementation of the
comprehensive macroeconomic and structural reforms
needed to kick-start recovery and ease financing
strains," said Richard Fox, head of Middle East
and Africa sovereigns at Fitch.

The presidential race has polarised the nation,
dividing those who fear a return to the old regime
under Shafiq's leadership from others who want to
keep religion out of politics.

Mursi only narrowly bested Shafiq in last month's
first round vote, and with no reliable polling
available, the two men go into the race with their
fortunes unclear.

But whoever wins will face the prospect of uniting
a sorely divided electorate in an office whose
powers have yet to be defined, while dealing with
the key challenges of both a flagging economy and
deteriorating security.

Source - AFP

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