Newly elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy gave his first speech since the announcement of his victory over Ahmed Shafik
on Sunday evening, vowing to "preserve international accords and
obligations," in what appeared to be a reference to the peace treaty
with Israel.
Morsy attempted to allay fears that he would
immediately act to Islamize Egypt, promising to be a president to all
Egyptians, "Muslims, Christians, the elderly, children, women, men,
farmers, teachers, workers, those who work in the private and public
sectors, and the merchants."
The new Egyptian president thanked
the "martyrs" that had lost their lives during the uprising that led to
the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, saying the he would not
have become president without their sacrifice.
Morsy did not call
out a challenge to Egypt's military leaders for their recent attempts
to limit presidential powers, instead praising the army and police as
"brothers."
Morsy defeated former Mubarak prime minister and general Shafik in a run-off
last weekend by a convincing 3.5 percentage points, or nearly 900,000
votes, taking 51.7 percent of the total, officials said. It ended a week
of disputes over the count that had frayed nerves.
Morsy succeeds Mubarak, who was pushed aside by his fellow officers 16 months ago to appease the Arab Spring revolution.
The
military council which has ruled the biggest Arab nation since then,
curbed the powers of the presidency by decree last week, meaning the
head of state will have to work closely with the army on a planned
democratic constitution.
The generals say they want to hand over
to civilian rule but are plainly set on defending their privileges and
suspicious of the ability of Egypt's fragmented, and long oppressed,
political movements to establish a stable constitutional democracy.
Obama calls to congratulate Morsy on victory
US President Barack Obama called Morsy on Sunday to congratulate him on his victory. According to a White House statement, Obama underscored that the US will continue to support Egyptfs transition to democracy and stand by the Egyptian people as they fulfill the promise of their revolution. He emphasized his interest in working together with Morsy, on the basis of mutual respect, to advance the many shared interests between Egypt and the United States.
Morsy welcomed Obama's support and the two leaders affirmed their commitment to advancing the US-Egypt partnership and agreed to stay in close touch in the weeks and months ahead, according to the statement.
Obama also called Shafik, commending him on a well-run campaign, according to the US State Department.
Reuters contributed to this report.