Muslim Brotherhood candidate declared winner of Egyptian presidential election

The Muslim Brotherhood, which has been ” title=”CNN reports” target=”_blank”>CNN reports:

Morsi ended up with just under 52% of the vote, while Shafik got just over 48%, officials said.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, on Facebook, called the election result a “tribute to the martyrs of our revolution.” It vowed, “We will keep walking on the path.”

On Twitter, the Muslim Brotherhood said the “battle for democracy” and justice hasn’t ended, and “we will remain” in Tahrir.

The presidency is largely a figurehead position, as the country’s military rulers maintain much of the control over the country.

Still, the vote was “a moment in history,” said Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, a fellow member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party.

“We’ve been waiting for it for 7,000 years,” he said. “For the first time in history we have our own president, elected by us. The power of the people is now in the hands of the president—and the president has to go and move forward.”

I’m a bit confused by that historical reference. Islamic history predates Muhammad and the 7th century, but neither Jews nor Christians, with whom Muslims share their Abrahamic origins, consider ” title=”Coptic Christians” target=”_blank”>Coptic Christians and ” title=”better of two Islamist options” target=”_blank”>better of two Islamist options.

For what it’s worth, Morsi’s spokesman ” title=”Reuters profile” target=”_blank”>Reuters profile.