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Egypt to learn name of new president

The results of the second round of the presidential elections will be made public

CAIRO, June 24 (Itar-Tass) —— The results of the second round of the presidential elections will be made public in Egypt on Sunday. Chairman of the Egyptian Central Election Commission Farouk Sultan is expected to announce the name of a new president of the country of the Great Pyramids.

Sultan’s press conference is scheduled at 15:00 local time (17:00 Moscow time), but Egypt has been running a fever for many days. Right after the voting on June 16-17 the election staffs of two presidential candidates - Islamist Muhammad Mursi and the former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik - began counting the votes, and each of them hurried to state about his victory. The Egyptian CEC warned repeatedly that it is inadmissible to make public the election returns, because this step is within its exclusive jurisdiction. The CEC refrained from announcing the election results all these days. The announcement of the election results initially planned for June 21 was delayed over the protracted hearings into the appeals, which both presidential candidates filed.

Meanwhile, many thousands of people are participating in the rallies in support of their candidates in the Egyptian capital. The Tahrir Square is cramped with the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which went on a strike back on Thursday with the demand for the soonest announcement of the election returns.

In Nasr City, another Cairo district, thousands of Shafik’s supporters gathered on Saturday. It is symbolic that the rally is being held on the square, where President Anwar Sadat was killed during a military parade in 1981 and Hosni Mubarak came to power after that. Shafik’s rivals call him as Mubarak’s associate and are concerned that his victory will mean the comeback to the regime, which was toppled after the January 25 Revolution.

Few people doubt that the announcement of the election results may trigger new disorders and clashes in the country. Security measures were tightened ahead of making public of the election results. The police, the army and the special forces were put on alert. Armoured vehicles were brought to the main highways in the Cairo suburb. The state agencies and vitally important facilities, including the Suez Canal, were put under special guard. The army and people are ready to any development of events in the country.

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