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| Mohamed Morsy,Egypt's President Elect |
He succeeds Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown 16 months ago after a
popular uprising. The military council which has ruled the biggest Arab
nation since then has this month curbed the powers of the presidency,
meaning the head of state will have to work closely with the army on a
planned democratic constitution.
Thousands of Brotherhood supporters burst into cheers on Cairo’s
Tahrir Square, waving national flags and chanting "Allahu Akbar!" or
God is Great, greeting a dramatic victory.
Morsy, a 60-year-old, U.S.-educated engineer who spent time in jail
under Mubarak, won the first round ballot in May with a little under a
quarter of the vote. He has pledged to form an inclusive government to
appeal to the many Egyptians, including a large Christian minority, who
are anxious over religious rule.
The military council will retain control of the biggest army in the
Middle East, whose closest ally is the United States. Morsy has said he
will respect international treaties, notably that signed with Israel in
1979, on which much U.S. aid depends.
"President Morsy will struggle to control the levers of state,"
Elijah Zarwan, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign
Relations, said in Cairo. "He will likely face foot-dragging and
perhaps outright attempts to undermine his initiatives from key
institutions. Faced with such resistance, frustration may tempt him
fall into the trap of attempting to throw his new weight around,"
Zarwan told Reuters. "This would be a mistake."
"His challenge is to lead a bitterly divided, fearful, and angry
population toward a peaceful democratic outcome, without becoming a
reviled scapegoat for continued military rule."
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