Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi was declared the victor in Egypt’s presidential race Sunday; but the ruling junta that has controlled the country since February 2011 is still calling the shots.
Morsi defeated former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik in the elections, getting 52 percent of the 26 million votes, according to the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper.
“I would like to thank the military council, the judicial system, and the police for their efforts in making the elections clean and fair,” Morsi said, according to the newspaper.
The decision prompted thousands of Egyptians to swarm into Tahrir Square in Cairo, sending fireworks into the night sky, Al-Jazeera reported.
Protesters chanted, “Down with military rule,” according to the network.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which had been promising to hand over power to a civilian government when a president was elected at the end of June, recently dissolved Parliament and gave itself expanded constitutional power.
Critics have said the move puts the country into deeper crisis.
“The constitutional declaration is a complete turn against the revolution and it makes the president a mere affiliate of the military council and extends the transitional period indefinitely,” revolutionary author Alaa El-Aswany said, according to Al-Ahram.
