Egypt's president-elect Mohamed Morsi gestures to his security guards to let him greet supporters in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square on June 29, 2012.
Egypt’s first freely-elected president Mohamed Morsi says the Egyptians choose a parliament in free and fair elections, despite being ruled unconstitutional by the country’s high court.
“We will maintain achievements of the Egyptian people,” Morsi said in a speech during his inauguration ceremony at Cairo University on Saturday.
This comes as protests have been going on since the junta dissolved the country’s parliament dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood for being unconstitutional after a high court ruling.
Egypt’s junta also took control of the state budget and gave itself veto power on a new constitution, making the new president almost powerless through a recent constitutional declaration.
In his first presidential speech Morsi added that the country’s army will go back to focus on preserving the country’s security after handing over power to him.
“I pledge to do everything I can to protect armed forces.”
Earlier, Morsi took the oath and became Egypt’s first civilian president in a swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC).
The Muslim Brotherhood candidate was announced president on Sunday after a runoff with Ahmed Shafiq, who served as Mubarak's last prime minister.
The ruling generals are expected to hand over power to the president in an official ceremony at an army base.
PG/PKH/IS