Egypt

Hundreds march from Shubra to Tahrir to protest Morsy and Shafiq

Scores of young people and various revolutionary forces on Tuesday marched from Shubra to Tahrir Square to denounce Ahmed Shafiq and Mohamed Morsy competing in the presidential election run-off.

They reject any remnant of the former regime or member of the Brotherhood, whom they consider “enemies of the revolution.” They also demand that the Political Isolation Law be applied to Shafiq.

On Monday, Farouk Sultan, head of the Presidential Elections Commission, announced the results of the first round of the elections in which the Brotherhood’s candidate Morsy was in the lead, with 5,764,952 votes, or 25 percent. Shafiq, a former air force commander and Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, received 5,505,327, or 24 percent. Hamdeen Sabbahi, a Nasserist who has championed Palestinian resistance against Israel, was a close third.

Turnout was 46 percent, which means that about 23.67 million out of 51 million eligible voters cast their ballots.

“The election was rigged,” claimed Assem Ali of the April 6 Youth Movement, adding that they came to protest as individuals and not as members of political movements or parties.

“We will not participate in the run-off, or else it would be recognition of the election and of Shafiq if he wins,” he told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Former US President Jimmy Carter said he was broadly confident about the election process although Carter Center monitors highlighted several irregularities, notably lack of access in the final aggregation of national results.

But on Monday, Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, a former Brotherhood member, rejected the results saying that the election had not been honest.

Thousands of Egyptians marched on Monday night in protest after the results of the first round were confirmed by the elections committee. “No to Shafiq and to the Brotherhood. The revolution is still in the square,” they chanted.

On Tuesday, dozens of people marched in Alexandria holding banners against Shafiq, one reading: “No to Ahmed Shafiq, a man of the previous regime.”

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