Note: Arab spring and Post-Mubarak era’s first free presidential election was held in Egypt in May and June 2012. The election result was declared on Sunday 17 June 2012 and Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohamed Mursi was declared the winner. He took the oath on 24 June 2012, Friday. He faces challenges from various groups, particularly Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), and his own parent organization, Muslim Brotherhood. Editorial commentaries from the international and the Middle Eastern media on this event are reproduced here. Editor MEI@ND
*

Al-Ahram, Cairo, Editorial, 14June-20 June 2012
1. A difficult choice?
As Egypt strives to find its way back towards democracy, its first credible presidential elections have turned into a showdown between two diametrically opposed ideologies. With the parliament controlled by the Freedom and Justice Party and Nour Party, the country is now torn between those who want a religious state and those who want a civil state. For the full text

Chicago Tribune, Editorial, 19 June 2012, Tuesday
2. Desert storm
Which way for the Egyptian revolution? Egypt was one of the countries that experienced a revolution during the Arab Spring. In February 2011, long-time Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak gave up power. Well, it seemed like a revolution at the time. Today, it looks increasingly like a mirage. For the full text

Los Angeles Times, Editorial, 19 June 2012, Tuesday
3. Egypt's military takeover
The nation's military council lives up to fears that it would not go quietly in a transition to democracy. From the moment it was announced that Egypt's authoritarian president, Hosni Mubarak, was stepping down, experts in that country and abroad warned that the Egyptian military wouldn't be content with a limited and transitional role. For the full text

Al-Ahram, Cairo, Editorial, 21June-27June 2012
4. To be announced
Four days after Egypt's run-off elections, the country still does not know who its new president is. The name will be made public today but because the two rivals are claiming victory, whoever is proclaimed the winner, an announcement either way by the election commission could raise protests, and instigate violence, from the losing side. For the full text

The Jordan Times, Amman, Editorial, Jun 24 2012, Sunday
5. Hard work just starting
The Arab world, if not most of the world, was literally glued to television in anticipation of the result of the Egyptian presidential election. The reason is obvious. What is at stake does not concern the Egyptian people only, but the rest of the international community as well, due to the pivotal role Egypt plays in regional and international security and stability. For the full text

The Hindu, Chennai, Editorial, 25 June 2012, Monday
6. Between a rock and a hard place
The Egyptian electoral commission has announced that Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party has won the presidential election runoff, beating the independent candidate Ahmed Shafik, the last Prime Minister to the deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak, with 13.2 million votes out of 26 million, a share of 51.2 per cent on a turnout of just over 50 per cent. The result, however, does not settle the standoff between the Brotherhood and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which did not even wait for the result before taking a series of steps which some Egyptians have called a constitutional obscenity. For the full text

The National, Abu Dhabi, Editorial, 25 June 2012, Monday
7. Next chapter in Egypt must see army fade away
Today, Egyptians and many around the world - will wake up dazed. Is the president of the largest Arab country really an Islamist? Is the elected leader of 80 million people really a representative of a movement that, mere months ago, was banned and its members hunted? The Egyptian presidential election is at an end, and the winner after a soporific speech by the head of the election commission is Mohammed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate. Mr. Mursi won with 51.7 per cent of the vote, and his rival, Ahmed Shafik, captured 48.2 per cent. For the full text

The New York Times, Editorial, 25 June 2012, Monday
8. Another Chance for Egypt
Now that Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood has been declared its first freely elected president, Egypt has another chance to steer onto a more democratic course. It will require a much greater willingness to work for the common good than the country’s polarized political groups have shown so far. For the full text

The Telegraph, London, Editorial, 25 June 2012, Monday
9. Egypt’s hopes betrayed
The liberal, secularist dream of Egypt's revolution has been betrayed by the army and Islamists. Pity those liberal, secularist Egyptians who drove the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak 16 months ago. Like a nut, they have been cracked between the military, who have dominated the country for the past 60 years, and the Muslim Brotherhood, who claim to be moderate, but whose ultimate goal remains the imposition of Sharia. For the full text

The Washington Post, Editorial, 25 June 2012, Monday
10. Egypt stumbles forward
Egypt has taken another halting step toward democracy — and avoided a plunge into chaos. By recognizing the victory of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi in a presidential runoff election, the ruling military has sidestepped the unbridled domestic conflict and international censure it might have provoked had it tried to void or manipulate the voting results. For the first time in its history, Egypt has a freely elected president. For the full text

China Daily USA, New York, Editorial, 26 June 2012, Tuesday
11. What next for Egypt?
In what is perceived to be a milestone in the country's political transition, Egypt announced on Sunday (24 June) that Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood had won the election to become the country's fifth president - the first without a military background. It is good to see that the elections in Egypt, an important player in the Middle East, have finally yielded results after the uprisings last year (2011) that brought an end to the rule of Hosni Mubarak. For the full text

The Dawn, Lahore, Editorial, 26th June, 2012 Tuesday
12. Mursi’s victory
Even though there were mutual greetings and thanks, the military junta and Mohammed Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, must have been conscious of the difficulties involved in working together. Mr. Mursi is the Muslim Brotherhood’s first leader to rule Egypt, and that makes his position unique and his task challenging. While he thanked his people for the sacrifices in the cause of democracy, Mr. Mursi also expressed his thanks to “the army and the police” whose brutal handling of the protesters had resulted in hundreds of deaths. For the full text

Khaleej Times, Dubai, Editorial, 26 June 2012, Tuesday
13. What after the elections?
On June 24 (Sunday), Tahrir’s revolutionaries once again returned to their favourite spot, to eagerly wait for the results of the presidential elections. And when the Presidential Election Commission announced Muslim Brotherhood’s (MB) Mohammed Mursi victory with a 51.73% — outstripping Mubarak’s former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik by a narrow margin of nearly 3.5 percent— a wave of jubilation swept the crowd. For the full text

Gulf News, Dubai, Editorial, 26 June 2012, Tuesday
14. A president for all Egyptians?
Only then Egypt will regain its leadership role in an increasingly turbulent Arab world .For a few hours on Sunday (24 June), the entire Arab world held its breath as Egypt’s election commission chief delivered his preamble for the declaration of the winner of the presidential election. Until the moment Farouq Sultan announced Mohammad Mursi the winner, the name of the president-elect was a guessing game. And that by itself is an Egyptian victory. For the full text

The Asian Age, New Delhi, Editorial, June 26 2012, Tuesday
15. Egypt shift spells a new age for Arabs
The triumph of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Mursi over secular challenger Ahmed Shafik, the last Prime Minister under ousted President Hosni Mubarak, caused no surprise on Sunday (24 June) although the victory margin was very slim. Nevertheless, the historic nature of the win can hardly be underestimated. Given Egypt’s size, historical importance and cultural and political pre-eminence in the Arabic-speaking world, it is not unlikely that an Islamist democracy advocated by the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood’s political wing that Mr. Mursi led to a signal victory, can potentially become a model for West Asia and North Africa. For the full text

The Indian Express, New Delhi, Editorial, 26 June 2012, Tuesday
16.  A Clear verdict
Egypt’s freely elected president must first reach out to minorities and liberals. The Muslim Brotherhood’s accidental candidate, Mohammed Mursi, has promised to be president to all Egyptians. However, for Egypt’s first freely elected president, the challenge begins on paper. How willing will be the military, which stripped the presidency of most powers and assumed an extensive legislative and budgetary role during the run-off, to follow up its words of congratulation with making room for a civilian government? Will the Muslim Brotherhood give Mursi a free hand, given that he was not their first choice? For the full text

The National, Abu Dhabi, Editorial, 26 June 2012, Tuesday
17. Uncertainty still plagues Egypt's ailing economy
One question has been settled: Mohammed Mursi will be the new president of Egypt. The symbolic importance of the Muslim Brotherhood’s achievement, after decades as a suppressed opposition, is not to be underestimated. Still to be answered, however, is the more complicated matter of who will really manage the government that is supposed to serve the interests of more than 80 million Egyptians. For the full text

The Japan Times, Tokyo, Editorial, 27 June 2012, Wednesday
18. Rough start for Egyptian democracy
It took longer than anticipated, but there is finally a victor in Egypt's first truly competitive presidential elections. Mr. Mohamed Mursi, the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, prevailed over former Gen. Ahmed Shafik. The outcome is symbolic on many levels, but most significantly because it is not clear if Mr. Mursi is president in any real sense. Egypt's old order is waging a battle behind the scenes — and under cover of the judiciary — to strip the new administration of any real power. For the full text

The Daily Star, Beirut, Editorial, 30 June 2012, Saturday
19. Defiant dawn
Once again, Tahrir Square in Cairo has captured the attention of millions of people in the region and around the world anxious to hear the first public address by Egypt’s newly elected civilian president. Mohammad Mursi did not disappoint the faithful Friday (29 June). He delivered a strong challenge to the country’s military while his supporters were busy shouting for an end to the Egyptian army’s grip over public affairs, including the recent controversial decision to dissolve parliament, dominated by Islamist groups. For the full text

The National, Abu Dhabi, Editorial, 3 July 2012, Tuesday
20. Mursi sends all the right signals in his first days
Mohammed Mursi is off to an encouraging start as quasi-president of Egypt. In the hectic days since he was declared the election winner, he has focused on assembling support for the coming contest with the military. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) made a deft pre-emptive strike during the presidential campaign, amending the constitution to strip away many presidential powers. Mr. Mursi will need all the moral support he can get as he threads his way through the minefield of building civilian consensus in order to tame the generals, who have been the real power in Egypt for decades. For the full text

Al-Ahram, Cairo, Editorial, 28 June- 4 July 2012
21. A president for all Egyptians
Egyptians marked an unprecedented milestone in their history when President Mohamed Mursi was declared the winner of a hectic and lengthy presidential race Sunday (24 June) by the Presidential Elections Commission. Not only did Egyptians elect their president for the first time ever, but President Mursi narrowly won the race with 51.7 per cent in a region whose leaders never accepted for decades a result less than 99.9 per cent, ridiculing any meaning of democracy or elections. For the full text

Compiled by Marimuthu U

U Marimuthu N is a Doctoral candidate at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Email

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND.  Editor, MEI@ND:  P R Kumaraswamy