Muslim Brotherhood heading for surprise victory in first round of Egyptian election The second-place race was still too close to call, with Mr Moussa, Abdulmoneim Aboul Fotouh, a moderate Islamist, Hamdeen Sabahi, a left-wing nationalist, and Ahmed Shafiq, a general and "remnant" of the regime of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, all in with a chance. With the Brotherhood arousing passionate hostility as well as support, a middle-of-the-road candidate like Mr Moussa would have a chance of winning. A contest between Mr Morsi, whom secular Egyptians distrust, and Mr Shafiq, who is loathed by both Islamists and liberals for his ties to Mr Mubarak, would deeply polarise Egyptian society. Opponents of Mr Shafiq have already threatened to take to the streets again if there is any chance of his taking power, claiming it would represent a return to the Mubarak era. The Brotherhood began predicting success even before the polls closed. "We expect to win," Yasser Ali, a Brotherhood spokesman told The Daily Telegraph, adding that it was possible his man would take more than half the vote, making a second round unnecessary. Essam el-Erian, a senior Brotherhood leader, told a late night press conference this outcome was in the balance, but that he was confident Mr Morsi had come first. "Now we will continue to address the effects of the deep state planted by Mubarak and his regime over 60 years," he said. A Morsi win would be a remarkable come-back for a man widely seen as lacking in charisma and whose organisation had come under fire for trying to exploit its parliamentary position to seize a stranglehold on power. Many of those who voted for the Brotherhood in the parliamentary elections said they would switch this time to Aboul Fotouh, a moderniser who left the Brotherhood after losing a battle to reform it from within. There were signs of increased tension as the scale of the Brotherhood vote became clear, with Mr Moussa calling on Mr Shafiq to withdraw in his favour, and being roundly denounced by Mr Shafiq in turn. The Telegraph saw Ibrahim Ahmed, 59, entering the Khalid ibn al-Walid polling station in a working class neighbourhood of Cairo with a copy of the name and symbol of Mr Shafiq provided by campaign workers. However, he later said he was not sure who he had voted for, as he could not read. The Presidential Election Commission says it is investigating a number of breaches of the rules, but has indicated that none threatens the integrity of the result. More disappointing was the turn-out, which fell far short of expectations and according to initial estimates may have been less than 50 per cent. Some liberal activists boycotted the vote, saying it had been "hijacked" by the ruling military council, which has yet to put a constitution in place saying what powers the new president will have.