Shafik to be named Egyptian president

 

Cairo (CNN) -- Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister under former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, will be named the country's new president on Sunday, the semi-official Ahram Online news site reported Friday, citing several unnamed government sources.

There's been no official confirmation from the leadership in Cairo as the country anxiously awaited the results of last week's run-off election between Shafik and Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi, both of whom have claimed they've won the election.

Shafik will be declared victor with 50.7% of the vote, the news outlet said.

Sources at the country's presidential election commission would not confirm claims of Shafik's victory. Thousands gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the center of last year's revolution that led to the toppling of Mubarak, as the news report circulated.

Earlier Friday, Egypt's military rulers said they won't reverse their widely deplored constitutional and judicial changes and warned politicians to keep a lid on election-related unrest.

"We will face anyone who will pose a challenge to the public and private sectors with an iron fist," the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said.

Military rulers dissolved the lower house of parliament last week, extending their power and sparking accusations of a coup.

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The military council recently announced it had full legislative authority. The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest Islamist group, was the dominant party in the parliament.

Under an interim constitutional declaration, the military council retains the power to make laws and budget decisions until a new constitution is written and a new parliament elected.

The declaration said Supreme Council members "shall decide all matters related to military affairs, including the appointment of its leaders." The president has the power to declare war, it says, but only "after the approval" of the Supreme Council.

In its statement, read on state TV by a military official, SCAF said the judiciary is a pillar of Egyptian society.

"All decrees issued by the judiciary system must be respected and implemented because they represent the people. It will be considered a crime if anyone objects to the ruling or attempts to block its implementation," SCAF said.

It said the constitutional declaration was a "necessity that the current situation posed in administrating the affairs of the nation during the critical current phase of our nation's history. Whatever is issued from SCAF is based on the high interests of the nation, nothing else."

The military council said it does not favor one political entity over another and respects everyone's "rights for peaceful demonstrations that keep in consideration the high interests of the nation." And it stresses the importance of self-restraint and respect for authority.

It said announcements of unofficial presidential results are "inexcusable" and sow political divisions. Both candidates have claimed victory in the run-off.

SCAF urged political entities to respect democracy and "abstain from all possible acts that may descend the country into a full chaos."

Egypt's election commission Thursday delayed the release of the results of the presidential election to an unknown date.

Mubarak became president after the assassination. He ruled Egypt with an iron hand and as a staunch ally of the United States, which gives the nation $1.3 billion a year in military aid.

Egypt's Presidential Election Commission has delayed, from Thursday until a date to be announced, the release of the results of the elections. An electoral official said authorities are reviewing around 400 electoral violation reports submitted by the two candidates.

Egyptian reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei -- the former head of U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency and the winner of a Nobel Peace Prize -- said he's been in close contact with the military council and the intelligence services on the one hand, and Morsi on the other, and has urged them to avoid a showdown.

He said if Shafik, seen as a candidate of the pro-Mubarak old guard, is declared the winner "we are in for a lot of instability and violence ... a major uprising." He isn't as worried about a Morsi victory because Shafik supporters are unlikely to take their anger to the streets, he said.

He described the current situation as "a total, complete 100 percent mess."

Muslim Brotherhood lawmakers met with political leaders to discuss plans for a coalition to fight what they believe is a power grab by the military, according to the Facebook page of its Freedom and Justice Party.

"We will NOT accept this coup against democracy," it said, adding that "together, we will march on to complete the revolution."

More than 800 people died and 6,000 were wounded during the uprising that ended Mubarak's 29-year rule in February 2011.

Mubarak and his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, this month were convicted of ordering security forces to kill anti-government protesters and were given life terms. But other top aides -- as well as Mubarak's two sons, who had been tried on corruption charges -- were acquitted.