CAIRO ? Egypt?s election commission rejected fraud complaints and confirmed on Monday that a conservative Islamist from the Muslim Brotherhood and a secular former military officer will compete in next month?s presidential runoff.
The announcement marked the official start of the second phase of a race in which Egyptian voters will face a stark choice in determining the successor to former president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted last year.
Former Pres. Jimmy Carter, who led a delegation of election monitors in Egypt, broadly endorsed the country's presidential elections. The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate and Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister will face-off in a June runoff.
Egypt's Presidential Vote
An explanation of the significance, candidates and process in Egypt?s historic election.
Here is a look at five of the 13 candidates in the running in the May 23-24 elections.
Key events leading up to the first presidential election since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
The Brotherhood?s presidential hopeful, Mohamed Morsi, has called for a more pronounced application of Islamic law. His rival, Ahmed Shafiq, ran on a promise to ?neutralize? Islamists and restore security with an ?iron fist.?
Shafiq and Morsi both took about a quarter of the vote in last week?s first round.Turnout was lower than expected, with just 46 percent of registered voters going to the polls.
Election commission head Farouk Sultan told reporters in a press conference Monday that accusations of fraud were thrown out because of a lack of evidence. He said the runoff would proceed despite allegations from other candidates that security officers were unlawfully allowed to vote in order to swing the balance in favor of Shafiq, who is perceived to have the backing of the ruling military council.
?It?s the most divisive outcome possible,? said Michael Wahid Hanna, an Egypt expert at the Century Foundation. ?It?s unfortunate because it was a fragmented field that allowed for a polarized outcome like this.?
There were 13 contenders on the ballot in the first round. The three who finished behind Morsi and Shafiq ? former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, Arab Nationalist Hamdeen Sabbahi and progressive Islamist Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh ? together took about 200,000 more votes than the top two contenders. The results reflect deep divisions in the country more than a year after a revolution that ended Mubarak?s 30-year reign.
Voter turnout for the runoff, which is scheduled for June 16-17, probably will be even lower than the underwhelming showing during the first round of voting for the president, analysts said.
Although the Brotherhood swept the parliamentary vote, the results from last week?s presidential contest show a backlash against the group. The coastal city of Alexandria voted overwhelmingly for Islamists in the parliamentary balloting. But Sabbahi, the only secular front-runner with no links to Mubarak?s government, received the most presidential votes in Alexandria, the country?s second-largest city.
Many Egyptians have vowed to stay away from the polls during the runoff rather than choose between an Islamist and a candidate many feel is against the revolution. Shafiq has called Mubarak his role model and has suggested in television interviews and public appearance that he has no qualms about using the full force of the state against dissidents.
The losing candidates continued to cry foul Monday. Aboul Fotouh, who was once a Brotherhood leader but severed ties with the organization in order to run for president, said he would seek to have the election suspended because of electoral violations.
He implied that Shafiq voters were paid and said that ballot boxes had been tampered with.
Amr Moussa, the former foreign minister and ex-Arab League chief, struck a somber note Monday.
?I will stand with all citizens to push Egypt forward and to participate in healing the problems and rebuilding the country,? he said. ?I cannot accept the reproduction of the old regime. There has to be a new system based on freedom, based on democracy and based on freedom of opinion, freedom of worship, freedom of scientific research and creativity.?
He asked Egyptians not to allow the runoff to ?divide Egypt.?
Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=b3668cac67f6a9552f635eaa2cca31b7
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