(Image source: Wikimedia Commons )


BY STACEY WELSH

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN 

 

A run-off is set for Egypt’s presidential election after a one percent difference between the top two candidates’ votes. CNN reports an election official confirmed the news Monday.

“Mohammed Morsi, the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood won 24 percent of the vote. Ahmed Shafiq… Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister won 23 percent.”

The election will take place mid-June. 46 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the first-round election, compared to 62 percent for recent parliamentary elections. And while the occasion marks Egypt’s first-ever free election, Bloomberg notes the runoff pits the “two most divisive candidates” against each other.

“...fueling political tensions that have built up since Mubarak’s ouster last year and leaving Egyptians with a choice between a secular candidate with ties to the old regime and an Islamist.”

And some are not satisfied with either of those options. As Fox News reports , citizens are returning to the streets.

REPORTER: “Young Egyptian revolutionaries returned to Tahrir Square in protest." PROTESTER: "Angry. I’m more than angry.”

Germany’s Deutsche Welle reports protesters started a fire near Shafiq’s headquarters. Some view him...

“...as a symbol of the deposed president's rule. Some protesters who took part in last year's uprising have also expressed dissatisfaction with Morsi as not sufficiently representative of change.”

But the elections won’t bring an end to the conflict. USA Today reports the country still needs a new constitution to define the President’s and the parliament’s powers.

“Whoever prevails ... will face a state-controlled media that has failed to reform, a judiciary that lacks independence and security forces that continue to abuse human rights.”

The winner will become Egypt’s first freely-elected president.