2012 Egyptian presidential election

2012 Egyptian presidential election

← 2005 23–24 May 2012 (first round)
16–17 June 2012 (second round)
2014 →
Turnout46.42% (first round)
51.85% (second round)
 
Candidate Mohamed Morsi Ahmed Shafik
Party Freedom and Justice Independent
Popular vote 13,230,131 12,347,380
Percentage 51.73% 48.27%

Second round results by governorate

Head of state before election

Mohamed Hussein Tantawi
Chairman of the Military Council
Independent

Elected Head of state

Mohamed Morsi
Freedom and Justice

Presidential elections were held in Egypt in 2012, with the first round on 23 and 24 May 2012 and the second on 16 and 17 June. They were the first democratic presidential elections in Egyptian history. The Muslim Brotherhood declared early 18 June 2012, that its candidate, Mohamed Morsi, won Egypt's presidential election, which would be the first victory of an Islamist as head of state in the Arab world.[1] It was the second presidential election in Egypt's history with more than one candidate, following the 2005 election, and the first presidential election after the 2011 Egyptian revolution which ousted president Hosni Mubarak, during the Arab Spring. However, Morsi's presidency was brief and short-lived. He later faced massive protests for and against his rule, only to be ousted in a military coup in July that year.

In the first round, with a voter turnout of 46%, vote-splitting between the major moderate or pro-democracy candidates created a center squeeze, leading to the elimination of Amr Moussa (the likely majority-preferred candidate) in the first round. The elections set the stage for the divisions that were to follow, along sharia and secular lines, and those opposed to and those supporting the former political elite. Islamist candidates Morsi and Fotouh won roughly 42% of the vote, while the remaining three secular candidates won 56% of the vote. Candidates Shafik and Moussa held positions under the Mubarak regime and won 35% of the vote, while Sabahi was a prominent dissident during the Sadat and Mubarak regimes.[2]

Following the second round, with a voter turnout of 52%, on 24 June 2012, Egypt's election commission announced that Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi had won Egypt's presidential elections. Morsi won by a narrow margin over Ahmed Shafik, the final prime minister under deposed President Hosni Mubarak. The commission said Morsi took 51.7% of the vote versus 48.3% for Shafik.[3] Morsi was sworn in on 30 June 2012. To date, this is the last (and only) presidential election in Egyptian history which is broadly considered to have been democratically free and fair.[4] Morsi's victory also marked the first time civilians ruled Egypt since the 1952 coup.

  1. ^ El Deeb, Sarah; Keath, Lee (17 June 2012). "Islamist claims victory in Egypt president vote". Associated Press. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  2. ^ "Mursi-Shafiq presidential showdown puts Egypt revolutionaries in pickle".
  3. ^ "Muslim Brotherhood candidate Morsi wins Egyptian presidential election". Fox News.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Egyptian Elections Web Archive". Library of Congress. Retrieved 30 December 2023.