Egypt press lauds free election

Egyptian newspapers on Monday morning gave ample attention to the election of Egypt's first ever civilian president, Dr Mohammed Morsi. Most newspapers were neutral in their coverage of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate's electoral victory, except for a few who opposed the result. The primary state-run newspaper, al-Ahram listed the details of the result declared by Judge Farouk Sultan, Head of the Supreme Presidential Electoral Committee (SPEC). Ahram said the final tally showed that Morsi won 13,280,131 votes against 12,347,380 (a bit over 48 per cent) for rival candidate Ahmed Shafiq, according to the SPEC's official vote count, announced after allegations of electoral fraud –- filed by both candidates' campaigns –- were declared. The total number of registered voters in Egypt stands at 50,958,794. Voter turnout in the presidential runoff was 26,420,763 (nearly 52 percent). The total number of valid ballots cast was 25,575,511, while the number of voided ballots was 843,252. The newspaper quoted General Hamdi Badeen, commander of the military police forces, saying army troops would be responsible for the security of the governmental posts even after Morsi takes his oath. Another state-run newspaper, al-Akhbar reported that  military presidential guard forces have sent troops to protect Morsi's house east of Cairo, shortly after his victory was announced. Supporters crowded near his home, shouting and welcoming the presidential troops. The newspaper also cited expectations of a dispute between Morsi and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), as the new president has refused to accept the complementary constitutional charter recently issued by SCAF, as well as the judicial verdict to dissolve the elected parliament. Morsi insists on taking his oath before the currently dissolved parliament, while the complementary charter states he should take it before the Constitutional Court panel. Yasser Ali, Morsi's campaign spokesperson, called for extended dialogue between all the political fronts as well as SCAF to reach a settlement for this "expected crisis". Ali stressed that the new president had no intention of making any problems, but insisted the people's elected representatives must be respected. The al-Dostour newspaper, allegedly close to losing candidate Ahmed Shafiq, concentrated on the reactions of Shafiq supporters after his loss. The front page showed a photograph of a woman wiping away tears while holding a poster of Shafiq, taken in front of the headquarters of Shafiq's campaign in the Dokki neighbourhood in Giza governorate. Al-Dostour quoted the woman saying: "I have come to the headquarters of Shafiq's campaign to declare my support for him, even if he has lost." The Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper reported that ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s health deteriorated immediately after he heard Morsi became president of Egypt. Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, who are in prison, were also appalled by the news, and so were fellow symbols of the former regime imprisoned alongside them. Mubarak, who is sentenced to 25 years in prison for complicity in the killing of demonstrators, was forbidden by his doctors from watching the press conference announcing the result of the runoff, but when he was informed about the result, his blood pressure went up and his heart beat became irregular. Mubarak reportedly told his doctors that he was surprised the Islamists took the presidency, particularly the Brotherhood. Morsi had said earlier he would retry Mubarak, his two sons and the symbols of his regime. His sons are facing charges of manipulating the stock exchange, and are still being investigated on other corruption charges.