Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Campaign Polling
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Slideshow
Full Focus
Photos of the week
Our top photos from the past week. See more
Images of May
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Obama spares many illegal immigrants deportation
|
3:37am EDT
"Moesha" actress Yvette Wilson dies at age 48
15 Jun 2012
"Forest boy" made up story: German police
15 Jun 2012
Voyager space probe reaches edge of solar system
15 Jun 2012
Joy and anger as Obama relaxes deportation rules
15 Jun 2012
Discussed
120
Most say Bush to blame for weak U.S. economy, poll finds
108
Analysis: Obama gambles by asking for more time to fix economy
106
China could impound European planes in carbon row
Watched
U.S. Morning Call: Greek stocks soar; Nokia job cuts
Thu, Jun 14 2012
Bodies found after Peru avalanche
Thu, Jun 14 2012
New NASA telescope a black hole hunter with X-ray eyes
Wed, Jun 13 2012
Stark choice for Egypt in presidential poll
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Egyptians bemoan "coup", protest muted
Fri, Jun 15 2012
Calls to boycott get louder on eve of Egypt vote
Fri, Jun 15 2012
Court rulings tip Egypt's transition into turmoil
Thu, Jun 14 2012
Shafik hails "historic" Egypt court rulings
Thu, Jun 14 2012
Jailed Mubarak's health casts shadow ahead of Egypt vote
Tue, Jun 12 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Counterparties: Greece votes
Shareholder spring? Not so much, new study says
Related Topics
World »
Egypt »
1 of 7. Soldiers stand guard as voters wait outside a polling station at a school in Al-Sharqya, 60 km (37 miles) northeast of Cairo, June 16, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah
By Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad
CAIRO |
Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:30am EDT
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians queued to choose a new leader on Saturday in the first free presidential election in their history, facing a stark choice between a conservative Islamist and a former military officer who served ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Reeling from a court order two days ago to dissolve a new parliament dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, many question whether the wealthy generals who pushed aside their fellow officer Mubarak last year to appease the pro-democracy protests of the Arab Spring will honor a pledge to let civilians rule.
With neither a parliament nor a new constitution in place to define the president's powers, voting on Saturday and Sunday will not settle the matter, leaving 82 million Egyptians, foreign investors and allies in the United States and Europe unsure what kind of state the most populous Arab nation will be.
For those who preferred the secular centrists, leftists and moderate Islamists who lost in the first round, the two-man run-off leaves an unpalatable choice from the extremes.
Some of Egypt's 50 million eligible voters say they will despoil their ballots rather than back Ahmed Shafik, 70, a former air force commander who was Mubarak's last prime minister, or Mohammed Morsy, 60, of the Brotherhood, the clandestine enemy of army rule for six decades.
But many were determined to make their voice heard. Queues formed early at some polling stations as they opened at 8 a.m. (02.00 a.m. EDT) for the first of two days of voting. A result could be known as early Sunday night, after the second day's vote.
"I am going to vote for Shafik. He is a military man, ex-pilot and war commander. He has exactly what need in a leader. A strong military man to have a strong grip on the state and bring back security," said Hamdy Saif, 22, a student who like many Egyptians are desperate for order after Mubarak's overthrow.
There are signs of exasperation with the Brotherhood's push for power on the back of a revolt driven in its early stages by the secular, urban middle class may limit Morsy's ability to widen his appeal beyond the Brotherhood's disciplined ranks.
The Brotherhood had secure the biggest bloc in parliament that was elected in a vote that ended in January, and initially said they would not field a presidential candidate but then changed tack at the last minute.
The court ruling to dissolve parliament reverses those gain, and could help win some more sympathizers for the group.
"I was going to vote for Shafik but after parliament was dissolved, I changed my mind and will vote Morsy. There is no more fear of the Islamists dominating everything," said Ahmed Attiya, 35, a IT technician in Cairo's Zamalek district.
"Shafik represents a counter-revolution," he added.
EUPHORIA THEN FRUSTRATION
Critics denounced the parliament ruling as a coup and compared it to the start of the Algerian civil war, when the military cancelled an election won by Islamists 20 years ago.
But the Brotherhood renounced violence as a means to achieve political change in Egypt decades ago and an Islamist uprising in the 1990s was put down by Mubarak and his security forces, which have survived last year's revolt intact.
Although ordinary Egyptians are choosing their leader for the first time in a history that stretches back to pharaonic times, the euphoria that accompanied Mubarak's overthrow on February 11, 2011 has given way to exhaustion and frustration after a messy and often violent transition overseen by army generals.
Hardline Islamist violence this month in Tunis, where the first Arab Spring uprising inspired Egyptians to emulate their North African neighbors, has also hardened fears of political Islam, notably among those dependent on tourism for a living, secular activists, women and the Egypt's Christians, who make up a tenth of the nation.
Both candidates have sought the center ground, promising to rule in the spirit of the revolution: "It is not correct that the military council wants to rule through me," Shafik said.
Morsy, a last-minute choice for the Brotherhood after their preferred candidate was barred, has played down talk of a crackdown on beachwear and alcohol that would hurt tourism and steered away from confrontation with Israel after three decades of cool peace maintained during Mubarak's military-backed rule.
But both candidates are also defined by those who promoted them. The Brotherhood candidate says he is running because God expects him to offer his sacrifice for the nation. Shafik's air force career shadowed that of Mubarak, his elder by 13 years.
"We are back to the political dynamic of secular versus Islamist, of a civil state versus an Islamist state," said Mona Makram Ebeid, a political scientist and member of a body that advises SCAF, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
"That is what we as political forces are confronted with today, causing almost a gridlock," she said, referring to months of wrangling between the army, Islamists, liberals and other parties seeking to carve a new course for the nation.
During Mubarak's era, his presidency was mainly endorsed in single-candidate referendums but in 2005, under pressure from his U.S. ally, he held a multi-candidate presidential race. No one was surprised when Mubarak cruised to an easy win because of rules that made it impossible to put up a realistic challenge.
(Additional reporting by Samia Nakhoul; Writing by Edmund Blair and Alastair MacDonald; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
World
Egypt
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.