Egyptians Unsure If Military Will Cede Power to New President - East Idaho News
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Egyptians Unsure If Military Will Cede Power to New President

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GETTY W 052312 EgpytVoting?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1340095691817John Moore/Getty Images(CAIRO) — Egyptians were hoping for months that the just concluded presidential election would finally provide them with a free and open government.

But now, the situation is more muddled than ever.

Official results of the race between Mohammed Mursi, leader of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq are not expected until Thursday although Mursi and his party have already proclaimed victory.

The uncertainty may be the least of Egypt’s problems as the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the military council which has been running the country since President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011, instituted provisional measures just as the voting ended Sunday that many believe amounts to a “soft coup.”

As one independent newspaper put it on Monday, “The military hands power to the military.”

While generals tried to assure the population on Monday that the new president will have powers, anger is growing that the military won’t cede its new authority of controlling legislation, the budget and a new committee to draft the post-Mubarak constitution.

Suspicions were already growing last week of what might be down the road when the council dissolved parliament after declaring illegalities in the voting that gave Islamist lawmakers a third of the body.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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