Egypt's military writes new constitution

CAIRO -- As Egyptians voted in a second day of elections for a successor to Hosni Mubarak, the ruling military issued an interim constitution Sunday defining the new president's authorities, a move that sharpened the confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood and showed how the generals will maintain the lion's share of power no matter who wins.

With parliament dissolved and martial law effectively in force, the generals granted themselves considerable authorities. They will be the country's lawmakers, control the budget and will control who writes the permanent constitution that will define the country's future.

A significant question will be how their relationship will be with the new president who emerges from the Saturday-Sunday runoff between Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's former prime minister, and conservative Islamist Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood declared Morsi the winner based on returns from 95 percent of the more than 13,000 polling stations nationwide. The returns showed Morsi with 52 percent of the vote, Shafiq with 48 percent. A million votes separated the two, which a Brotherhood spokesman said the remaining votes could not overcome the difference for Shafiq.

"If it happens that they announce he [Shafiq] is the winner, then there is forgery," said Brotherhood spokesman Murad Mohammed Ali. "We will return to the streets," though he added, "we don't believe in violence."

Shafiq, who is a former air force commander, is seen as the generals' favorite in the contest and would likely work closely with them. So closely that his opponents fear the result will be a continuation of the military-backed, authoritarian police state that Mubarak ran for nearly 29 years.

A victory by his opponent, the conservative Islamist Mohammed Morsi, could translate into a rockier tussle over spheres of power between his Muslim Brotherhood and the military.

"Things have not changed at all. It is as if the revolution never happened," Ayat Maher, a 28-year-old mother of three, said as she waited for her husband to vote in Cairo's central Abdeen district. She said she voted for Morsi, but did not think there was much hope for him. "The same people are running the country. The same oppression and the same sense of enslavement. They still hold the keys to everything."

The winner will be officially announced Thursday. But the result could be known by as early as this morning, based on the results from individual counting stations.