Egypt's first Islamist president to recruit a woman and a Christian

EGYPT - Egypt has a new president and his name is Mohammed Morsi. New Egyptian president has moved into the office once occupied by his ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak and started work on forming a government and choosing his team.

Mr Morsi won on Sunday after the first free and fair elections in Egypt's modern history. Thousands of Egyptians went home early for fear that violence might erupt when the winner was announced and Egypt's stock index closed with record gains of 7.5% in a sign of optimism after a president was named.

Mr Morsi is Egypt's first civilian president and from the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood group, he is also the first Islamist president of Egypt. He defeated Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, in a tight race that deeply polarised the nation.

The election battle in the runoff has left Egypt politically divided, as reflected in Mursi's narrow victory.
More than 12 million voters decided to support Mubarak's last prime minister. This represents a challenge to Mr Mursi who will now have to embark on serious steps towards national reconciliation.

Another complication for Mr Mursi is that the military have limited some of the new president's powers. As the presidential runoff started, the Scaf issued a supplementary constitutional declaration which has cut down much of the president's powers.
The Scaf has given to itself temporary legislative powers following the dissolution of parliament, and has secured complete control over all army affairs, including the defence budget, the appointment of commanders and the extension of their service.
The president can declare war, but only after the approval of the Scaf.
Under the new declaration, the Scaf will also form a new constituent assembly, should the current one be scrapped by the court looking into lawsuits filed against it.
 

Now he faces a daunting struggle for power with the still-dominant military rulers who took over after Mubarak's removal in the uprising.

Although, offically Egypt's elected leader, the 60-year-old, US-trained engineer comes into office knowing little about his authorities and what he can do to resolve security and economic crises and meet the high expectations for the country's first popularly elected leader.

In his first speech after being named president, Mr Morsi called for national unity and pledged he will be a "president for all Egyptians." In an effort to heal national divisions, he vowed to appoint diverse deputies including a woman and a Christian. He also has reached out to other presidential hopefuls who got significant support in the first round of elections.

Thousands of Morsi supporters, backed by some liberal and secular youth groups who drove the uprising, vowed to press on with their protest in Tahrir Square to pressure the ruling generals to rescind their decrees and reinstate parliament. Tens of thousands spent the night in Tahrir in joyous celebration of his win. 

The Brotherhood officials have said the protests will continue until the military responds to their demands.