Egyptians brace for election results, Syrians disappointed with theirs

The second day of voting in Egypt’s presidential elections continues to lead the Arabic news on Friday, as speculations abound as to the identity of the two candidates who will ascend to the second round of voting in June.

“Egyptians laid their dreams in the ballot boxes, waiting for the two sides of the second battle to be determined,” reads the headline of liberal daily Al-Hayat, published in London.

Preliminary results were being steadily announced Thursday night. According to Egyptian establishment daily Al-Ahram, the Muslim Brotherhood has announced that its candidate Muhammad Morsi has won a majority in most Egyptian counties. However the campaign of independent candidate Amr Moussa has also declared victory in 13 counties, including Cairo, Alexandria and Giza.

“Egypt braces itself, awaiting election results,” reads the headline of Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat. The daily reports a sharp drop in the number of voters Thursday, a result of the intense heat in Egypt. The article features a row of women waiting to vote in Cairo; three veiled and three with their hair uncovered.

A-Sharq Al-Awsat also reports clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and Salafists, who support the candidacy of independent Islamist Abd Al-Munim Abu-Fattouh. Both sides, the article claims, have broken the law barring distribution of propaganda outside polling stations, and have filed mutual complaints to the police. Meanwhile, an extremist Islamist group, A-Takfir Wal-Hijra, has called on Egyptians to boycott the elections.

Elaph, a Saudi-owned news website, expresses its surprise at the success of pro-Mubarak candidate Ahmad Shafiq over his secular contestant, former foreign minister Amr Moussa. The site reports that Egyptians are generally pleased with way the election process was conducted.

Al-Hayat guest columnist Karim Abed writes that if one ideology monopolizes the Egyptian political scene, Egypt will not reach democracy.

“Justice is a social and political process which cannot be achieved by the liberal, Islamist of leftist streams alone. If any stream monopolizes control and popular support, it will eventually tyrannize the regime and the public which supported it will become its first victim,” writes Abed.

Syrian opposition says Damascus is next

The Syrian opposition is calling on the public to demonstrate across the country on Friday under the banner “We shall meet soon in Damascus,” Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera reports.

According to the channel, 17 people were killed in Syria on Friday morning, mostly in the city of Hama.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi reports on the appointment of a Baath party member as speaker of the Syrian parliament, quashing any inkling of hope for a pluralistic outcome in the parliamentary elections held May 7 under the new constitution.

According to the daily, a Syrian opposition member mocked the appointment of Jihad Laham on his Facebook page: “some pluralistic elections! The president of the republic is a Baathist, the prime minister is a Baathist and the speaker of parliament is a Baathist.”

Article 8 of the new Syrian constitution stipulates that “the political system of the state will be founded upon political pluralism,” but two-thirds of the parliament seats are occupied by members of the ruling Baath party.

The UN is putting most of the blame for the continued violence in Syria on the regime of Bashar Assad, A-Sharq Al-Awsat reports on its front page.

In an op-ed published Friday, A-Sharq Al-Awsat columnist Amir Taheri debunks three common presumptions regarding Syria: that no progress can be achieved before the US presidential elections in November; that the divided Syrian opposition cannot topple Assad; and that the UN observers can bring about political change in Syria.

“As was the situation always, the initiative lies with the Syrians themselves. If they insist on success, they will eventually succeed,” writes Taheri.

Tunisia’s deposed president to be sentenced to death

Al-Jazeera reports that Tunisia’s deposed president Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, currently taking refuge in Saudi Arabia, will be sentenced to death by a military court in the city of Al-Kaf for “his participation in the premeditated murder” of more than 20 protesters during the Tunisian popular uprising that began in late 2010.

The channel reports that this is the first time the general prosecution in Tunisia had demanded Ben Ali’s execution. The death sentence has not been carried out in Tunisia since 1991.

Ben Ali’s attorney denies the allegations against his client, arguing that the president never ordered soldiers to shoot at protesters.

“The request is political, not legal in nature,” said attorney Akram Azouri in a statement issued in Beirut.