CAIRO: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood claimed a historic victory for their candidate Mohammed Mursi on Monday in the country's first presidential vote since a 2011 uprising that overthrew dictator Hosni Mubarak.
"Doctor Mohammed Mursi is the first Egyptian president of the republic elected by the people," the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said in the tweet that first announced their projected win.
Mursi's campaign director Ahmed Abdelati confirmed the projected victory.
At a press conference he said Mursi had garnered 52.5 percent of the vote to 47.5 percent for his rival, ex-prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, with the ballots from nearly all of the country's 13,000 polling stations counted.
"Its a moment that all the Egyptian people have waited for," he said.
There were scenes of jubilation at Mursi's headquarters, where the candidate himself thanked Egyptians for their votes in brief remarks.
He pledged to work to "hand-in-hand with all Egyptians for a better future, freedom, democracy, development and peace."
"We are not seeking vengeance or to settle accounts," he said, adding that he would build a "modern, democratic state" for all Egypt's citizens, Muslims and Christians.
Supporters screamed with excitement, some wiping tears from their eyes at the apparent victory that marks the culmination of a long political road for the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood.
At Shafiq's headquarters, officials appeared to be in shock and said they were "waiting for the official figures."
The Brotherhood mobilised their formidable network of supporters to observe the vote counting across the country and deliver early unofficial results, but final official figures are not expected until June 21.
The jubilation at Mursi's headquarters was overshadowed however by a looming showdown between the Brotherhood and the ruling military, which issued a new constitutional document shortly after polls closed on Sunday.
The document issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces grants the body legislative powers after a top court on Thursday ordered the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated parliament.
The document also gives SCAF veto power over the text of a new permanent constitution, and states that no new parliamentary vote will be held until after a permanent constitution is approved.
The declaration appeared to put the military on a collision course with the Brotherhood, which called the constitutional declaration "null and unconstitutional."
The document was issued after a Thursday ruling from the constitutional court, which found a third of the parliament's members had been elected illegally, effectively ordering the dissolution of the body.
The military informed parliament after the ruling that it considered it dissolved, and Sunday's declaration confirmed its was retaking the legislative power it handed the body in January, after a drawn-out election process.