And the Winner is?

Seriously--that's the question, not the introduction to the results of the Presidential runoff election this past weekend.  At first, it didn't appear if anyone was going to vote in the election--turnout on the Saturday was dismal, with estimates of only 15-20% turnout; however, the Sunday voting picked up drastically and the election ended with a surprising 49% participating, which was 3% higher than the first round.  Not bad, but still less than half of the country voted to decide on their leader.

The most reliable polls have Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party candidate Mohamed Morsy defeating former Mubarak-appointed Prime Minister Amir Shafiq with a 51% to 49% advantage.  Morsy, and many, have claimed this as a victory of the revolution over the "feoul" (remnant) of the Mubarak-era.

Shafiq feels that Morsy is prematurely declaring victory while the margin appears to be so close and the final decision has not yet been announced as vote counting is confirmed and grievances are heard.  He may be right--Morsy needs to demonstrate 50%+1 to win, so he doesn't have a lot of room for error to be claiming victory.

But, the Morsy and MB victory does seem rather certain at this point.  But what did they win?

They didn't necessarily win the heart of the people.  If this poll is correct, then Morsy won the election, but based on voter participation mentioned above, he only appealed to just over 1/4 of the eligible voters.  And that appeal may have merely been what many at the polls, voting for either candidate, were quoted as "choosing the lesser of two evils", depending upon their definition of "evil".  One of the leading revolutionary voices posted on his Twitter account immediately after the decisive and disputed poll was announced,

"I am not happy about Morsy's victory, 

although I voted for him. 

I will join the opposition starting now" 

(Wael Ghonim).

They didn't necessarily win any power.  Prior to the completion of voting, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) took greater control of the country's legislative powers.  How?  After last week's Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the Parliament was improperly elected and thereby dissolved that branch of government, the legislative power swung back to the military in this interim time.  With no President, no Parliament, and no Constitution, the military preemptively acted to prevent a new President entering an office with what could be abused as dictator type power.  So, SCAF reduced the powers of President and added their own "checks-and-balances" to the new President's power until a Constitution can be written and approved and a new Parliament can be properly elected.  Included in the amendment, SCAF can appoint a new Constituent Assembly if the current one (the 2nd attempt in the past few months) is not able to complete the process.  There were some reports about a challenge to complete the Constitution within 3 months.  There is no word yet on when or how new Parliamentary elections will take place.  SCAF vowed to have a ceremony to induct the new President at the end of the month.

Freedom and Justice Party, as well as many revolutionaries, are not happy.  They count this as another step in a long line of orchestrated efforts to create a military coup of the government.  


So, what's next?  Protest, of course.


The Freedom and Justice Party will send their members to Parliament to meet this morning --rejecting the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court-- if they are refused entry, they claim they will meet in Tahrir Square.  Several editorials and legal experts are rebuking FJP for this plan as it is not only a rejection of the rule of law, but it undermines the only remaining and legitimate branch of government in the country at a critical time.


FJP and other revolutionary groups are also gathering in Tahrir today to reject and protest the reduction of Presidential powers.  That may be an interesting mix of protest as several of the young revolutionaries now want to begin protesting FJP and Morsy as suggested by the above Twitter quote.


Labor Unions are protesting today, too, and they're protesting SCAF, but not about the "coup of Parliamentary power" but upon their renewed ability to arrest and detain citizens.  SCAF put this into effect after the dissolution of Parliament until a proper government is established.


There are reports today that the French and US government have spoken to the military and urged them to return power to the government.  Has the military taken power, or have they provided safeguards so as to prevent the abuse of power by a President without a Parliament?


The election is over, but outcome is still yet to be determined.


Continue to pray for Egypt.