Mohamed Morsi wins Egyptian presidential election

Cairo - The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi has been declared the winner of the Egyptian presidential election after winning 51.73% of the vote.

There were moments of joyous celebration in Cairo's Tahrir Square following this announcement. Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood have been gathered in the square where they have been holding a vigil in protest of the actions of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) which have been seizing legislative powers for itself and in the process limiting the power of the president. According to Al Arabiya News, BBC News and RTE News this does not signal the end of this struggle for legislative power between the military, the Islamists and other civilian elements of Egyptian society. Many secularist elements of Egyptian society support the Muslim Brotherhood as they perceive his opponent Ahmed Shafiq to represent little more than a lackey of the military establishment which is sweeping important power for itself. A Muslim Brotherhood victory therefore represents in many Egyptian's minds a civilian organized grassroots opposition to military rule. Mr. Morsi an American educated engineer who has spent time in jail under the Mubarak regime, and has promised he will form a government which will represent the Egyptian people -- Muslim or otherwise -- and government that will respect international treaties Egypt has signed in the past, arguably the most important being the peace accord the country signed with Israel in 1979. The military has previously issued an interim constitutional declaration which gives them the powers to play a pivotal role in the drafting of the new Egyptian constitution and ensured that the military would not be relegated to civilian control. The military government has also granted Egyptian troops the legal right to arrest Egyptians and place them on trial them in military courts. Morsi's victory represents another pivotal moment in the future of Egypt as the country's future is mired in internal conflict as the Egyptian people continue in their fight to build a representative government following decades of dictatorship.