| Egypt presidential poll result ‘may be’ delayed |
CAIRO Egypt’s election committee said on Wednesday it may not be ready to announce the results of a run-off presidential vote on Thursday as planned because it was still reviewing appeals from the two candidates, both of whom claim to have won even as ousted president Hosni Mubarak was on Wednesday in a coma on life support at a Cairo hospital, sources said
“We cannot announce when exactly the timing of the announcement of the election results will be because now we are at the stage of listening to the representatives,” said Committee Secretary-General Hatem Bagato.
“The committee will meet afterwards to decide on whether to accept the appeals or not. After that there will be a time set to announce the final result,” he added, speaking by phone.
Bagato issued an official statement later in the day with more detail.
“The committee has decided to continue to examine the appeals, which involves looking at records and logs related to the electoral process, and this will necessitate more time before announcing the final results,” the statement said.
Any lengthy delay in disclosing the results risks prolonging uncertainty and stoking tension at a time when it is unclear how big a role the military will continue to play in leading the country.
On Tuesday, a US election monitoring group said it was unable to say if Egypt’s presidential election was free and fair as it had not been given sufficient access, accusing the military leadership of hampering a transition to democracy.
Beyond the election itself, the group - the Carter Center - said a court’s decision to dissolve the Islamist-dominated parliament and a decree from the ruling military council limiting the future president’s powers increased the risk that Egypt was not becoming the democracy that many had hoped for.
The uncertainty over the health of the ousted leader comes amid new political upheaval, with both candidates in a presidential vote claiming victory and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) granting itself sweeping powers.
Mubarak “is not clinically dead,” a medical source said. “He is in a coma and the doctors are trying to revive him.”
“He has been placed on an artificial respirator,” the source added, in an account confirmed by a member of Egypt’s ruling military council, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Egypt’s state television carried a ticker item saying Mubarak was in “a coma and is not clinically dead.”
Agencies
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