Morsi Election Positive Sign for Democracy in Egypt
New York, NY – Today, following the announcement that Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi will be the next Egyptian President, Human Rights First’s Neil Hicks issued the following statement:
“Egypt’s progress towards democracy had appeared to suffer setbacksin recent weeks. But today’s announcement recognizing a new president after a free and contested election is a hopeful development and an important milestone in Egypt’s progress towards democracy. The SCAF must now work with Pres ident Morsi to ensure that the Egyptian people have representation through a stable and democratically elected parliament. To that end, the Obama Administration should encourage the SCAF to provide a firm timeline for the drafting of a new constitution, its approval by referendum and the holding of new parliamentary elections to replace the parliament dissolved by the SCC earlier this month.
President Morsi must strive to be a President for all Egyptians, especially those who did not vote for him. Egypt now has an opportunity to develop political institutions that can reflect the diverse interests of the Egyptian people and to protect the basic rights and freedoms of all.”
Morsi and his opponent Ahmed Shafik reached the run-off with roughly 25% each of the votes cast in the first round of the election. Less than half of the eligible voters took part in the poll. The overwhelming majority of Egypt’s voters did not support either candidate.
