June 24th, 2012
PressTv– After days of delay, the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) has announced the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi as the winner of the county’s presidential runoff.
On Sunday, head of the SPEC Farouq Sultan said that Morsi has received nearly 52 percent of the votes, with over 13 million ballots.
This is while, former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq won over 12 million votes. The voter turnout was 51.85 percent.
Sultan also added that the number of ballots exceeded the number of registered voters which added complications to the vote-counting process.
The election commission says a majority of the appeals by the two candidates have been rejected after discussion.
Tens of thousands of Egyptians have gathered in Cairo and across the country to celebrate the victory of Morsi, chanting slogans such as “God is greatest” and “down with the military rule.”
Also in the besieged Gaza Strip, the Palestinians have taken to the streets in celebration.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has deployed extra security forces in the capital in case of possible unrest following the announcement of the results, warning against any violations of the law.
Morsi is the country’s first freely elected president since the ouster of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak last year.
Egyptians cast their ballots in a two-day presidential runoff election on June 16 and 17.
Prior to the announcement, both candidates claimed victory with the Muslim Brotherhood announcing that its candidate Mohamed Morsi has won.
However, Shafiq’s campaign said the claim was false, and that more than half of the voters had chosen Mubarak’s right-hand man as the next president.
Under a constitutional declaration issued last week, the country’s junta has taken control of the state budget and given itself veto power on a new constitution, making the new president almost powerless. It has also dissolved the parliament dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.
