Egyptian presidential results not yet confirmed – Muslim Brotherhood campaign celebrating victory in Tahrir Square

Al Jazeera is reporting that people are gathering in Cairo's Tahrir Square just hours after the Muslim Brotherhood declared that its candidate will be Egypt's next president.   The group said Mohamed Morsi has won enough votes in Sunday's run-off to put him in charge of the Arab world's biggest country, with 53 percent of the vote.

His rival Ahmed Shafik disputes the claim, saying that only 50 percent of the polling stations have reported.

Official results will not be known until Thursday, and there could be challenges.

The military has declared that it will continue to hold onto the bulk of legislative and executive powers regardless of who has been elected president and may unilaterally appoint a commission to draft the new constitution.  After the uprising a year and a half ago that resulted in former President Husni Mubarak's fall, it is anticipated that Egyptians will not accept the military's declarations.

The Muslim Brotherhood captured the majority of seats in the country's new parliament. After a 3-month jail sentence was imposed on Adel Imam, one of Egypt's most beloved comedic actors, for insulting Islam, the public has been concerned about religious fundamentalism overtaking the country.

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D. Beeksma

One of the growing crowd of American "nones" herself, Deborah is a prolific writer who finds religion, spirituality and the impact of belief (and non-belief) on culture inspiring, fascinating and at times, disturbing. She hosts the God Discussion show and handles the site's technical work. Her education and background is in business, ecommerce and law.

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