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| Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate Mohamed Mursi shout slogans during a protest in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday |
The Muslim Brotherhood expects its anticipated presidential election win to be respected, its candidate said yesterday, as the group’s supporters packed Cairo’s Tahrir Square to pressure Egypt’s ruling military.
The Brotherhood wants neither “confrontation nor violence”, as the country nervously awaits the official result of the divisive June 16-17 poll run-off, its standard bearer Mohamed Mursi said.
“There will be no confrontation or violence or attempts to shake the stability of this country,” he said.
“The protection of the nation is our highest goal, (including) the protection of its institutions, public and private property.”
But he added: “The expected result is known to everyone. We will not allow anyone to tamper with the result.”
Both Mursi and his challenger ex-premier Ahmed Shafiq have claimed victory in the election for a successor to ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak, sparking tensions between the rival camps that have deepened after the electoral commission delayed its announcement of the official outcome.
Mursi spoke after the ruling military warned that it would deal “firmly” with any attempt to harm the public interest as thousands of people packed Cairo’s Tahrir Square accusing it of a power grab.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which took over when Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising in February 2011, also delivered veiled criticism of the Brotherhood, charging that efforts were afoot to pre-empt the election result.
But it insisted that it remained neutral in the run-off between Mursi and Shafiq, who served as Mubarak’s last prime minister.
“Protecting the status of state institutions is a national responsibility for all. Any attack on them threatens the stability and national security of Egypt,” said a SCAF statement read on state television.
“Any attempts to harm public or private interests will be confronted with utmost firmness and strength by the police and armed forces within the law.”
The SCAF defended a constitutional document giving it legislative powers, control over the new constitution and a broad say in government policy as a “necessity”.
“The issuing of a constitutional declaration was a necessity imposed by the needs of managing the affairs of the country during the current critical phase of the history of our nation,” it said.
The Brotherhood had claimed victory just hours after the close of polls, but its subsequent release of provisional results given to both candidates by returning officers drew criticism from the SCAF.
“The early release of the presidential election results, before the announcement by the responsible body, was unjustified and is one of the main reasons for divisions and tensions in the political arena,” the military said.
But the SCAF also insisted in its statement that it stood “at equal distance” from all political forces.
Brotherhood supporters packed Tahrir earlier yesterday to lay claim to victory for Mursi.
Protesters used umbrellas, newspapers and hats to shield themselves from the blazing sun and remained late into the evening, chanting “Down with military rule!”
Cleric Mazhar Shahin, dubbed the preacher of the revolution, called on the military to cancel the constitutional declaration that gave it sweeping powers and to reverse a decision granting the army powers of arrest.