Protesters take to streets of Egypt's capital to register outrage over final vote count that leaves Brotherhood's Mursi and Mubarak-era minister Shafiq presidential finalists in next month's runoff.
Hundreds chanting 'smash Shafiq on his head'
'down with all the dogs of military'
Thousands of protesters have joined demonstrations currently taking place in Cairo's Tahrir Square, outside Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC), and outside the headquarters of Egypt's Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC).
In Tahrir Square, demonstrators protested against presidential candidates Ahmed Shafiq and Mohamed Mursi, who will face each other in a runoff vote on 16 and 17 June. Demonstrators claimed that both candidates had topped last week's presidential poll by using illegal methods and fixing the vote.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters – including eliminated presidential candidate Khaled Ali – marched to Talaat Harb Square in downtown Cairo en route to Tahrir. "Smash Shafiq on his head," they chanted. "Down with all the military's dogs."
Outside SCC and SPEC headquarters, meanwhile, protestors demanded enforcement of a 'disenfranchisement law' banning former regime figures from returning to political life.
Application of the law – which has been endorsed by parliament and the ruling military council but which still awaits approval by the SCC – would exclude Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, from the presidential race. Liberal groups, for their part, are lobbying for Nasserist presidential contender Sabbahi to replace Shafiq in the upcoming runoffs.
Demonstrators called on Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi to ally with other presidential contenders – such Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh and Hamdeen Sabbahi – to unite against 'remnants' of the Mubarak regime, in a reference to Shafiq.
Groups that endorsed Monday's demonstration outside the SCC and SPEC headquarters included the Revolutionary Youth Coalition, the Kefaya protest movement, the April 6 youth movement and the Revolutionary Socialists.
The SPEC announced at a Monday press conference that the Muslim Brotherhood's Mursi and Mubarak-era minister Shafiq would face each other in next month's runoff poll.
According to the constitutional declaration, issued by the ruling military council in the wake of last year's uprising and approved via popular referendum, decisions made by the SPEC cannot be appealed.
Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/43152.aspx
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