CAIRO – In a reversal of fortunes unthinkable a year and a half ago, an Islamist jailed by Hosni Mubarak has succeeded him as president of the biggest Arab nation in a victory at the ballot box which has historic consequences for Egypt and the Middle East. The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammad Mursi, who was elected president with 51.7 percent of last weekend's run-off vote, will not enjoy the extent of modern, unbridled powers exercised by Mubarak: those have been curtailed by a military establishment which will decide just how much he will be able to do in government. Still, the US-trained engineer's victory in the country's first free presidential election breaks a tradition of domination by men from the armed forces. Throngs of Mursi supporters in Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted in cheers and dancing when the result was read out on live television. Some released doves with Mursi's pictures over the square where the uprising that ousted Mubarak last year was born. Others set off fireworks. Across Cairo, cars sounded their horns and chants of “Mursi, Mursi” were heard. Mursi resigned from his posts in the Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party, which he headed, after being declared the winner, the Brotherhood announced. Military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who took power when Mubarak was forced to resign, congratulated Mursi on his win, state television announced. Mursi's spokesman Ahmed Abdel-Attie said words cannot describe the “joy” in this “historic moment.” “We got to this moment because of the blood of the martyrs of the revolution,” he said. “Egypt will start a new phase in its history.” It was literally a D-day (a day of delays) for Egypt as Farouk Sultan, head of the electoral commission, took almost two hours to announce the result at a press conference which started at 4.41 P.M. Saudi time. The official went through each complaint, adding and subtracting votes for the respective candidates complaint by complaint, ballot box by ballot box aggravating the agony of millions of people in Egypt and across the world anxiously awaiting the outcome. At one point journalist Rana Khazbak twitted: “Sarhan, Shafiq's campaign spokesman, is so nervous, he was just pressing his head to the wall.” People had started filling the historic Tahrir Square since morning, and stayed put the whole day braving the mid-summer heat. At 2 P.M., an imam asked the people gathered there to pray for Mursi's victory. Their prayers were answered. Brotherhood declared a new era. “Dr. Mohammad Mursi has won the presidency, and a new era in Egypt and the Arab World has begun,” twitted the party @Ikhwanweb. – With agencies
