Mohamed Morsi

"Morsi" redirects here. For See also Pamela Morsi, see Morsi (disambiguation).

Mohamed Morsi محمد مرسى
President of Egypt Elect
Assuming office 1 July 2012
Prime Minister	Kamal Ganzouri
Succeeding	Mohamed Hussein Tantawi (Acting)
Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement Designate
Assuming office 1 July 2012
Succeeding	Mohamed Hussein Tantawi (Acting)
Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party
In office 30 April 2011 – 24 June 2012
Leader	Mohammed Badie
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	TBD
Member of People's Assembly
In office 1 December 2000 – 12 December 2005
Preceded by	No'man Gomaa
Succeeded by	Mahmoud Abaza
Personal details
Born	(1951-08-20) 20 August 1951 Sharqia, Egypt
Political party	Freedom and Justice Party (2011–present)
Other political affiliations	Muslim Brotherhood (1991–2012)
Spouse	Najla Ali Mahmoud
Children	Ahmed Alshaimaa Osama Omar Abdullah
Alma mater	Cairo University University of Southern California

Muhammad Morsi Isa al-Ayyat (Egyptian Arabic: محمد مرسى عيسى العياط, IPA: [mæˈħæmmæd ˈmoɾsi ˈʕiːsæ l.ʕɑjˈjɑːtˤ], born 20 August 1951) is an Egyptian politician and the President-elect of Egypt.

He had been Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), a political party that was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood after the 2011 Egyptian revolution until his victory in the race for the presidency was announced on 24 June 2012, where he then resigned as previously pledged. From 2000 to 2005, he was a Member of Parliament. He stood as the FJP's candidate for the May–June 2012 presidential election.

On 24 June 2012, Egypt's election commission announced that Morsi has won Egypt's presidential runoff against Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak. The commission said Morsi took 51.7 percent of the vote versus 48.3 for Shafiq.

Early life and education

Morsi was born on 20 August 1951 in the Sharqia Governorate, in northern Egypt. He received a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in engineering from Cairo University in 1975 and 1978, respectively. He then received his PhD in engineering from the University of Southern California in the U.S. in 1982. He was an Assistant Professor at California State University, Northridge from 1982 to 1985. In 1985, he returned to Egypt to teach at Zagazig University. Two of his five children were born in California and are U.S. citizens by birth.

Political career

Morsi served as a Member of Parliament from 2000 to 2005; he was elected as an independent candidate because the Brotherhood was technically barred from running candidates for office under President Hosni Mubarak. He was a member of the Guidance Office of the Muslim Brotherhood until the founding of the Freedom and Justice Party in 2011, at which point he was elected by the MB's Guidance Office to be the first president of the new party.

After Khairat El-Shater was disqualified from the 2012 presidential election, Morsi, who was initially nominated as a backup candidate, emerged as the new Muslim Brotherhood candidate.

2012 Egyptian presidential campaign

Main article: Egyptian presidential election, 2012

Following the first round of Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential elections where exit polls suggested a 25.5% share of the vote for Morsi, he was officially announced as the president on the 24th of June 2012 following a subsequent run-off vote. Morsi supporters in Cairo's Tahrir Square celebrated, and angry outbursts occurred within the Egypt Election Authorities press conference as the result was announced. He came in slightly ahead of former Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafik and has been noted for the Islamist character of his campaign events. Since the initial round of voting on 23 May–24, 2012, Morsi has attempted to appeal to political liberals and minorities while portraying his rival Ahmed Shafik as a Mubarak-era holdover.

On 30 May 2012, Morsi filed a lawsuit against Egyptian television presenter Tawfiq Okasha, accusing him of "intentional falsehoods and accusations that amount to defamation and slander" of Morsi. According to online newspaper Egypt Independent, an English-language subsidiary of Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, Okasha spent three hours on 27 May criticizing the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi on air. After Okasha aired a video allegedly depicting Muslim extremists executing a Christian whilst asking "how will such people govern?", some analysts suggested that this was in reference to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood party.

On 24 June 2012, Morsi was announced as the winner of the election with 51.73% of the vote. Almost immediately afterward, he resigned from the membership of the Muslim Brotherhood, with Managing Editor of the official Freedom and Justice Party newspaper Ahmed Ghanim telling Al Arabiya, “Dr. Mohammed Badi, the Supreme Guide (Murshid) of the Muslim Brotherhood, have dismissed Dr. Mursi’s membership, meanwhile the party has embraced him as the new Egyptian president.”

See also

• Elections in Egypt
• List of political parties in Egypt
• Timeline of the 2011-2012 Egyptian revolution under Supreme Council of the Armed Forces

Further reading

• Hussein, Abdel-Rahman (18 June 2012). "Mohamed Morsi claims victory for Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt election". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
• Aneja, Atul (30 May 2012). "Egypt's Islamists seek 'grand coalition' with liberals, minorities". The Hindu. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
• "Morsy demands Okasha be banned from TV". Egypt Independent. Ma 30, 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)