Islamist Morsi takes oath as Egypt's new President

Mohamed Morsi
[FILE PHOTO]
[Credit: Jonathan Rashad] 

Cairo: Islamist Mohamed Morsi on Saturday took oath as Egypt’s new President.

Morsi promised a “new Egypt” at his inauguration before the Supreme Constitutional Court here in Cairo.  With this, he has become country’s fifth head of the state.

"We aspire to a better tomorrow, a new Egypt and a second republic," the 60-year-old said in a televised solemn ceremony.

Earlier on Friday, Morsi addressed a huge gathering at Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square and symbolically sworn himself in before them. Addressing the crowd, he paid his tribute to Egypt's Muslims and Christians alike and promised for a ‘civilian state’. 

Notably, Morsi was a Member of Parliament in the People's Assembly of Egypt from 2000 to 2005 and a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood. He became Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), a political party, when it was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. He stood as the FJP's candidate for the May–June 2012 presidential election.

On 24 June 2012, the election commission announced that Morsi won Egypt's presidential runoff against Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak. 

According to official results, Morsi took 51.7 percent of the vote while Shafiq received 48.3. Morsi resigned from his position as the head of the FJP after his victory was announced.