Brotherhood leaders promise ‘mass rage’ if election result delayed or partial revote ordered

Officials in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood warned of a second popular revolution accompanied by “mass rage” if the country’s governing military authorities postpone the announcement of the presidential vote’s results, scheduled for Sunday afternoon, or call for new elections in some Egyptian provinces.

Muhammad Beltagy, secretary of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, accused the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) Sunday of trying to advance the candidacy of Mubarak-loyalist Ahmad Shafiq at all costs.

“After failing to fulfill the plan to make Shafiq win, some elements tried to engineer an alternative scenario of reelections in some provinces, hoping that Shafiq’s victory can be assured in a less tense atmosphere,” wrote Beltagy on his personal Facebook page Sunday afternoon. “To this end, conferences and rallies were held yesterday, to convey an image of public symmetry and prepare for the reelection decision.”

Beltagy did not name SCAF explicitly, but warned those supporting Shafiq to “stop playing with fire” and announce the election results promptly.

He was echoing the sentiments of Muslim Brotherhood official Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the Freedom and Justice Party, who warned Sunday that any postponement of the election results would lead to “mass rage.” In an interview with Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat, al-Erian denied any negotiations between the Brotherhood and SCAF regarding “the day after” results are announced.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has pledged to hand over power to an elected civil president by July 1.

On Sunday, the Muslim Brotherhood declared its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, had won last weekend’s race against Shafiq for president. On its official website, it advertised a press conference by “President-elect Mohammed Mursi” immediately following the official announcement of election results.