Following a full-scale revolution and weeks of election turmoil, Egypt's election commission has announced that Mohamed Morsi is the official successor to former President Hosni Mubarak. As thousands turned out in Cairo's Tahrir Square and gathered in cities across the country, cheers erupted when the winner's name was announced. Having bested his opponent Ahmed Shafik, Morsi will have plenty of work to do in pulling the country together, according to the Guardian.
Morsi won with 51% of the vote. Second-placed Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak's final prime minister, took 48%.
The incoming president assumes office after a turbulent few weeks that have left Egypt's wrenching transition in disarray, with parliament being dissolved by the supreme court and a military-issued constitutional declaration that severely limits presidential powers.
Both sides quarrelled over tactics in the wake of the polls closing. The Muslim Brotherhood announced Morsi as the winner six hours after voting ended, having tabulated the results from the 13,000 poll stations.
The Shafik campaign responded angrily, claiming its candidate wasactually the one leading the race. The supreme council of the armed forces (Scaf), Egypt's ruling military leadership, waded in, criticising the Brotherhood for its "unjustifiable" premature announcement.
Read more at the Guardian.