New Egyptian President to be announced June 24

PanARMENIAN.Net - Egyptians find out on Sunday, June 24 whether their next president will be a former military officer or an Islamist from the army's old adversary, the Muslim Brotherhood, after a long week's wait since a vote to pick a successor to the deposed Hosni Mubarak, Reuters reported.

Impatient Brotherhood supporters have been out on Cairo's Tahrir Square day and night since a call in midweek from their leaders to demand the current ruling generals cancel measures they say are designed to hem in the powers of the man they believe was elected last weekend, Islamist Mohamed Morsy.

The election committee will do so at news conference at 3 pm (9.00 am EDT) on Sunday, committee official Hatem Bagato said on Saturday, after run-off voting was held on June 16-17.

The party atmosphere in the square anticipated what could be one of the most dramatic turns of events in the Middle East in decades - the emergence of an Islamist president of the most populous Arab nation.

A delay in announcing the result, initially scheduled for Thursday, was explained by officials as required to deal with appeals over local voting irregularities. But it has prompted Brotherhood concern that the military-led "deep state", left over when Mubarak was toppled last year, was trying to steal their victory, just as it routinely rigged votes in the past.