Egyptians vote for new president after Mubarak in historic vote

Egyptians went to polls on Wednesday morning to elect a new president after the fall of ex-President Hosni Mubarak last year.The polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) across the country under tight security of police and troops. There were long queues in front of many polling stations in Cairo. The vote is expected to be the most free and fair of its kind in the past 60 years in Egypt.Ahmed Fatah, a middle-aged Muslim who came to a polling station at 6:30 a.m., told Xinhua that he had a high expectation for the election.“I hope the new president can restore peace and stability in our life. Our economy has suffered from continuous chaos and violence, we want the new president to revive our economy, make our life easier and bring back the good reputation and great influence Egypt used to have before the revolution in international community,” said Fatah.Presidential candidate Amr Moussa, who voted on Wednesday morning in Cairo, said he would accept the results of the polls as long as there was no fraud. He said Egypt needs a capable statesman to run the country over the critical period.The People’s Assembly Speaker Saad el-Katatni, who cast his vote in a polling station, said the lower house of parliament will cooperate with the new president, official MENA news agency reported.“We will all help the next president and cooperate with him,” he was quoted as saying. The Muslim Brotherhood, of which Katatni is a member, nominated its Freedom and Justice Party chairman Mohmed Morsi as presidential candidate.A policeman was killed in a shooting outside a polling station in Cairo on Wednesday morning. The policeman, Mohamed Emmara, was shot while he was trying to intervene a brawl between two people who exchanged fire in front of a polling station in Cairo’s Shubra district.