One of the most notable political developments in Egypt in recent years was the 2012 presidential election. Their initial stage took place in an atmosphere of democratic struggle between several candidates representing the most diverse political forces. The first round of elections did not allow to determine the only candidate who received more than half of the votes. The final winner of the political race will be determined by the second round.
For Egypt, the current presidential election was the first since the resignation of former head of state Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. The fate of the ousted president turned out to be unenviable - on June 2, 2012, according to France-Press, a Cairo court sentenced him to life imprisonment, accusing him of the death of demonstrators who opposed the Mubarak regime. A similar sentence was passed against the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Egypt, Habib al-Adli.
The first round of the current presidential elections in Egypt took place on May 23 and 24, 2012, with thirteen candidates taking part. Based on the results of the round, the two candidates with the largest number of votes were determined. They are the prime minister in the previous government of Mubarak, Ahmed Shafik, and one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, Mohamed Morsi, who overtook his closest rival by more than 200,000 votes.
A distinctive feature of the presidential elections is that they are held in strict observance of the rules established by law and without unnecessary excitement. Strict control by Egyptian and foreign observers excludes any illegal campaigning near the polling stations. All ballots are watermarked and dedicated observers monitor each ballot box. It is expected that this procedure will be ensured in the second round of elections.
The final result of the presidential race will be summed up in the second round of elections, which the Egyptian CEC appointed for June 16 and 17, 2012, RIA Novosti reports. The official results of the election of the new president of the country will become known on June 21, when the processing of ballots is completed. Considering the roughly the same balance of power between the two contenders for the highest state post, it is rather difficult to make any confident prediction of the outcome of the elections.
