The Pentagon which manges the military relations between the two countries has expressed concerns over moves by Egypt’s ruling generals to stay in power despite a presidential vote while it urged the Egyptian military to relinquish power to civilian-elected authorities and to respect the universal rights of the Egyptian people and the rule of law.

The military power grab poses a dilemma for the  Obama administration, which publicly backed the revolution that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak last year but also sees the Egyptian army as a crucial regional security partner, according to Al Jazeera. 

The Brotherhood has called on people to demonstrate against what it says is a “military coup” by the ruling generals, as the country awaits the final tally from the election expected to come out on June 21. All of the results announced on Sunday night are unofficial.

But shortly before the final result of the elections the generals who run the country stirred controversy by issuing new rules in a constitutional declaration demonstrating the president’s powers that made clear power remains within the hands of the army.

According to a decree issued on Sunday night, the military council will hold authority over the budget and the legislative process until a new parliament is elected, according to Al Arabiya. 

The decree also limits the new president’s powers who can only declare war if approved by the military council.

Sameh Ashour, the head of SCAF’s advisory council, said the incoming president would probably have a short term, and would be replaced after a new constitution was drafted, according to Al Jazeera. 

The Muslim Brotherhood said its candidate Mohammed Mursi leaded this week’s polls and would compete in next month’s second round on June 16 and 17 against Ahmed Shafiq, according to an unofficial Brotherhood tally of the vote count. Official results are due out on Tuesday.

According to political campaigns and semi-official results released by media, the Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi and former prime minister showed that Islamist Mursi got 24.9% of the votes, Shafiq got 24.5%, Al Arabiya reported.

The Muslim Brotherhood has stated that the “nation is in danger” if  Shafiq wins the the presidential vote
. “Morsi’s campaign calls upon all stakeholders in Egypt to join hands and do their best endeavors to save their revolution, along with the homeland and the people from a re-production of the old regime with all its repression, despotism and tyranny,” according to a statement by Muslim Brotherhood’s official website. 

The military council  has pledged to hand power to a new president by July 1

Official results are not to be announced before Tuesday,when the presidential election commission has promised to release the final tallies, but a senior judge involved in supervising the vote said Mursi and Shafiq were in the lead, based on figures from 90 percent of polling stations, according to Reuters.

A member of Shafiq’s campaign also said Mursi and Shafiq were in the lead, but that counting was not complete.

The election has divided Egyptians between those who oppose a  return to the Mubarak era and those who fear an Islamist domination of ruling institutions.

No outright winner is expected to emerge from the two-day vote, so a runoff is scheduled to take place for June 16-17 between the two top winners, according to AFP. Voters have 13 candidates to choose from. Among the contenders is former foreign minister and Arab League chief Amr Moussa, Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak’s last prime minister, Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohamed Mursi faces competition from Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader and centrist Islamist candidate.

The main issue for voters is the Egyptian economy, as the net president will take over a struglling and stagnant economy. Nearly half of Egyptians live at or below the poverty line, defined as $2 per day, and youth unemployment is 25 per cent, according to Al Jazeera.

The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), in power since Mubarak’s ouster, has called on Egyptians to turn out en masse to the polls, while warning against any “violation”, Al Arabiya reports. “The participation of citizens in the presidential election is the best guarantee of the transparency and security of the electoral process,” Mohammed al-Assar, a member of the SCAF said.

According to the electoral rules laid down by the Presidential Elections Commission, candidates may can no longer appear on television, give media interviews or conduct any public activity that may influence voters in the 23 to 24 May election.

Candidates have been campaigning across the country for weeks while 
a ban on campaign activities, laid down by the Presidential Election Commission came into force for 48 hours before the vote. The SCAF has vowed to hand power to civilian rule bu July 1, after a president is elected.

Meanwhile, Former US President Jimmy Carter, head of the Carter Center rights group, arrived in Cairo Sunday leading a delegation from Paris that will stay in Egypt for one week to monitor the election. Egypt has welcomed 22 observers from the Carter Center to join 80 other people coming from different countries to monitor the first election after Hosni Mubarak resigned from office amid the uprising last year, according to Egypt Independent. Several other international observers arrived Sunday coming from New York and European cities.

Media oulets are also subject to the ban. They are prohibited from broadcasting advertisements for presidential candidates or conducting any interviews with them, Egypt Independent reported.

The main contenders in the elections are former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi, last prime minister of Mubarak’s era Ahmed Shafiq and leftist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi, Islamist Abdul Muniem Abul Fotouh.

The country’s next president will be formally named on June 21.

Meanwhile, Former US President Jimmy Carter, head of the Carter Center rights group, arrived in Cairo Sunday leading a delegation from Paris that will stay in Egypt for one week to monitor the election. Egypt has welcomed 22 observers from the Carter Center to join 80 other people coming from different countries to monitor the first election after Hosni Mubarak resigned from office amid the uprising last year, according to Egypt Independent. Several other international observers arrived Sunday coming from New York and European cities.

Egypt’s next president will be formally named 21 June.

Meanwhile, results of Egyptian expatriate vote in Greece were announced on Friday with contender Amr Moussa coming first and Ahmed Shafiq second, Al Ahram Online reported.

Number of votes for each candidate are: Amr Moussa: 362, Ahmed Shafiq: 265,Hamdeen Sabbahi: 170,Abdel-Monem Abul-Fotouh: 167,Mohamed Mursi: 60.

The turnout was 50%

Saad el-Katatni, parliament speaker and Muslim brotherhood member, said he received a call from tussein Tantawi,head of Egypt’s ruling military council, notifying him about a reshuffle within 48 hours.

A source quoted in Al-Ahram’s Arabic-language website described the  reshuffle as “limited,” saying it would include new ministers from Islamist-oriented and other parties currently represented in Parliament.

The Muslim Brotherhood-led parliament, which seated three months ago, has been demanding it be allowed to form a cabinet to replace the military-appointed one it accuses of inefficiency.

The ruling generals, who have the power to sack the government, have resisted the calls and hinted at times that they will not allow the Brotherhood to dominate the country.

That resistance has also prompted the suspension of parliament sessions.

The parliament’s decision followed a night of violence marked with protests outside the defense ministry in the Egyptian capital to call for an end to military rule, according to Aljazeera.

The head of Egypt’s election commission on April 14 disqualified 10 candidates, amongst them  the Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat al-Shater and the former president’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, while Salafist candidate Hazem Abu Ismail’s nomination was rejected because his mother had taken joint US citizenship.

The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for May 23 and 24 and a run-off on June 26-17 if necessary, while the interim military leadership has promised to hand power to an elected civilian president by the end of June.