Source: President Morsi to be sworn into office by High Constitutional Court on Saturday

Ashraf Badr, Monday 25 Jun 2012

The ruling military council will hold a grand ceremony at a military facility after Morsi take the presidential oath before the High Court on Saturday, according to a government source

Government sources told Al-Ahram Arabic news portal that the ruling military council (SCAF) will hand over executive power to the President-elect Mohamed Morsi on Saturday evening after he takes the oath of office at the High Constitutional Court.

On this occasion, the source claimed the SCAF will hold a ceremony at a military events facility, which will be attended by members of the SCAF, the prime minister, ministers, various political forces and heads of political parties, as well as foreign and Arab ambassadors.

Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the defacto ruler of the country since the fall of Mubarak in February 2012, will officially announce the handover of executive power to the elected president at the ceremony.

Newly-elected Egypt president Mohamed Morsi met with head of the military council Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi and his chief of staff and deputy Sami Anan, along with the rest of the members of the council earlier Monday.

The meeting that lasted for about an hour took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence in Cairo in the district of Abbasiya.

Sources from the defence ministry told Al-Ahram Arabic news portal that the Field Marshal congratulated Morsi and said the military council would support him as the country's legitimately elected president. Morsi, in turn, thanked the military council for managing the interim period since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

Muslim Brotherhood Morsi has narrowly beat Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in the runoff of the Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential elections. The results were announced on Sunday afternoon by the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission.

Following the dissolution of the parliament on June 14, a constitutional addendum issued by the military council stipulated that the new president must take the oath before the general assembly of the High Constitutional Court (HCC).

Confusing reports floated around all day Monday on whether the oath will be administered at Court or not with some government sources claiming that the Brotherhood leader will respect the new SCAF-issued addendum while various Brotherhood figures denying those reports insisting the president-elect will be sworn in before the legislative power.

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