Cairo, Jun 21 (IBNS): The results of the Presidential run-off in Egypt that offered Egyptians a stark choice in either a veteran of the ousted autocratic regime or a Muslim Brother, have been delayed, media reports said.
Officials postponed declaring a winner of the polls adding to the uncertainty and sending political tensions soaring in the country that saw the downfall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime 15 months ago.
Polls in Egypt opened on Saturday in a contest that highlighted a deep rift in a nation united in euphoria as the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohamed Mursi contested former air force chief Ahmed Shafiq, who served as Mubarak's last prime minister.
Mursi had scraped a 24.7 percent lead in the first round against Shafiq who scored 23.6 percent last month.
The two-day poll for 50 million eligible voters the first presidential election since the toppling of the long-standing regime of Hosni Mubarak amid popular protests in January 2011.
However, the Mursi-Shafiq faceoff represents a worst-case scenario for many pro-revolution Egyptians who must now choose between a conservative religious organisation and a man they view as an extension of the fallen Hosni Mubarak regime, political analysts say.
Egypt’s bloody uprising now stands to be followed by more volatility as if Shafiq's foes have already vowed to take to the streets if he is elected and a victory for Mursi could also flare tensions between the Islamists and the army.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday voiced his strong support for Egypt’s transition to fully meet the legitimate expectations of its people and looks forward to the early handover of full authority to a civilian government.
“The Secretary-General continues to follow events in Egypt closely,” the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, told the Security Council, as he briefed the 15-member body on the latest developments in the Middle East. “He looks forward to the early handover of full authority to a civilian government.”
Ban “underscores his concern that the country’s transition should meet the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people and of the international community for the establishment of strong, representative, democratic institutions and for the popular will to be respected – both in the elections and in the drafting of a new Constitution,” Fernandez-Taranco added.