[Suetonius]

51% to 49% defeat of Mubarak regime throwback, Ahmed Shafik.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18571580

Discuss...

[shmuxel]

Rather surprised

[Agenda Suicide]

I find the final two candidates shocking.

Regime throwback is terrible, the Muslim Brotherhood I don't like merely because I don't believe in mixing religion and politics, especially as a devout party. It's a recipe for disaster.

[The Cornerstone]

That thread was quick!

Well it was a long time coming for Egypt, now we just have to see how the year will work out

[Snagprophet]

In before more Christian persecution.

[Risserd]

oh well. if the population is fed up with him i guess we ll see tahir square again

[Glia]

(Original post by Snagprophet)
In before more Christian persecution.

Well it happens, and it's a valid concern, so I don't see the need for a swipe at it.

Also, I find it hard to believe that concerns regarding pre-marked voting ballots for Mursi is "unverified" because they "only" found 2,400 such ballots.

Edit: Conflict of interest: I'm a Copt (Egyptian Christian).

[wildrover]

Wave goodbye to tourisim.

[NuckingFut]

I hope this is good news for Palestine.

[Risserd]

kinda funny for a muslim party to be called 'freedom and justice party' btw

[noteraz]

Interesting, that means more supplies of rockets to hamas across the border or possibly egyptians getting a chance to fire them into israel themselves?

With Syria burning round the corner and Iran heating things up for the final showdown.

Germans handed out 3 Nuke subs to israel a few weeks ago and Saudi/Qatar purchasing $50 Bil worth of arms from US.

Overkill on the security for London olympics which is not making any sense.

Ohh boyy! S**ts gona hit the fan sooner than i thought.

[B-Man.]

(Original post by Agenda Suicide)
I find the final two candidates shocking.

Regime throwback is terrible, the Muslim Brotherhood I don't like merely because I don't believe in mixing religion and politics, especially as a devout party. It's a recipe for disaster.

Keep in mind that factions of MB voters are not MB supporters or supporters of theocracy. They voted for him to prevent the revolution being destroyed by returning to the old regime. Mostafa Shawki, a leading protester, pronounced he met with Morsi to stand with him against the military. “We are not combining a front with a Brotherhood or a kinship of any kind,” he said. “If Morsi is announced victor, we will be his fiercest opposition.”

Morsi promises to represent all political views of Egyptians. Let's hope he sticks to that promise and I believe the Egyptians will hold him to account for it if he doesn't. Here is something that you may find reassuring:

Speaking by phone to Gehad el Haddad, Mohammed Morsi’s spokesperson in Cairo, Al Jazeera’s Teymoor Nabili asked if Egypt’s government will be secular once the president-elect takes office:

"In terms of the relationship with politics and religion, yes," el Haddad said. "There will be no religious dominance over political decisions whatsoever."

Source

[getfunky!]

Pleased for the Egyptians

They have someone who has somewhat of an understanding of what the people want, and not bending over backwards to western governments but we shall see..

[Brandmon]

The bandwagon going on at the moment against Morsi makes me sick. We were cheering the Egyptians on just a few months ago but not that they chose the guy they wanted, I am seeing people calling Egypt a terrorists state all over the place - despite not being knowledgeable of the Morsi's policies. And furthermore you have people claiming that now extremism will rule the day in Egypt, despite the fact that, not only did Morsi clearly state a policy of an inclusive civil society, but there is no way that any extremist or authoritarian government could get away with its policies when multiple influential parties have established themselves thanks to the revised constitution and civil society in Egypt is as strong as ever. How quickly people dismiss democracy when it doesn't suit them. Pathetic that such attitudes are coming from the Western world nonetheless.

I myself am happy for the Egyptians that their effort towards establishing a government that truly represents them has payed off in a manner that didn't cost too much, in what was without doubt risky business from the start. It will be a tough few years from now on. But within several years I can easily see Egypt establishing a successful model of Middle Eastern governance that would certainly challenge the established Monarchic and Theocratic models.

[Suetonius]

(Original post by Brandmon)
The bandwagon going on at the moment against Morsi makes me sick. We were cheering the Egyptians on just a few months ago but not that they chose the guy they wanted, I am seeing people calling Egypt a terrorists state all over the place - despite not being knowledgeable of the Morsi's policies. And furthermore you have people claiming that now extremism will rule the day in Egypt, despite the fact that, not only did Morsi clearly state a policy of an inclusive civil society, but there is no way that any extremist or authoritarian government could get away with its policies when multiple influential parties have established themselves thanks to the revised constitution and civil society in Egypt is as strong as ever. How quickly people dismiss democracy when it doesn't suit them. Pathetic that such attitudes are coming from the Western world nonetheless.

I myself am happy for the Egyptians that their effort towards establishing a government that truly represents them has payed off in a manner that didn't cost too much, in what was without doubt risky business from the start. It will be a tough few years from now on. But within several years I can easily see Egypt establishing a successful model of Middle Eastern governance that would certainly challenge the established Monarchic and Theocratic models.

While I agree that some commentators have unfairly scorned this result, there are legitimate concerns about what it will entail. I'm not so much concerned about Mursi's stated policies per se, but more the future of the system which you outline ("the revised constitution", etc.). I'm not someone who believes that the Muslim Brotherhood will, out of nowhere, use this one electoral success as a means to subsequently scrap democracy and decree the caliphate. That's demagogy of the worst kind. Even if they did attempt to Islamize Egypt's society, or revive a dictatorial system, the Egyptian people would reject them in the same way that other populations have rejected and outcasted such people (for example, staying with Egypt, the population totally ostracized the religious extremists who brutally murdered over 60 tourists in Luxor in 1997).

However, given the junta's behaviour over the past couple of weeks - the scrapping of the constitution, the dissolving of parliament, etc. - I have an inkling that they didn't rig this election precisely because they intend to work in symbiosis with the Islamists. I suspect that the military hope to wield a considerable degree of power behind the facade of a legitimate Brotherhood government. Such a relationship certainly is something that would be a concern, and could lead to disaster. Not only would Egypt have a religious politics, but a highly militarized one at that - something Egypt's people most definitely didn't vote for.

[Science211]

I can't believe some people think that this will change anything! The military still have outstanding power in the country and i can't see that will change anytime soon.

[Killuminati1989]

(Original post by NuckingFut)
I hope this is good news for Palestine.

I hope the new government helps with Gaza's electricity and water sanitation issues. If they build a power plant for Gaza this will mean Israel will not have to power the city.

I hope they dont start sending qassam rockets and making matters worse

Also, hopefully they will charge Israel normal rates for their gas supply and not what the puppet Mubarak was doing (selling cheap gas to israel and screwing egypt's revenue)

[FDR]

Well, for the first time in their history, the Muslim Brotherhood have some power (although how much power is yet unclear), and so they will, for the first time, be held accountable for their actions. Given that they were elected with a very marginal majority (on a low voter turnout), I imagine (and sincerely hope) that they will not be able to do anything radical, and that their time in government is spent stabilising the country, and ensuring that social issues such as poverty and lack of education are tackled. These are amongst Egypt's most pressing needs.

[MrHayden]

I really don't know what to think. From what I've seen of the organisation - I'm looking at their website currently - they don't seem threatening or extremist in the slightest. However the new government body of Egypt is already displaying all of the traditional signs of a revolution gone terribly, terribly wrong. I'm already noticing references to "enemies of the revolution".
It must be bloody scary for any secularists living there at the moment.

[MrHayden]

Also, two of the new president's three names are Mohammad. I barely understand why Mohammad is such an unbelievably popular name for someone to have at all, let alone to have twice!