Mohammed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq are in for the second round next month.

The announcement on Monday May 28 by Egypt’s Election Commission of results of the first round of this month’s presidential election was followed by scenes of violence and protests with the campaign headquarters of the runner up, Ahmed Shafiq, ransacked.

Egyptian television showed footage of fire on the building in the Dokki District with no apparent signs of serious damage or injuries. The BBC reported that the attackers took campaign posters and computers from the building before dispersing after Shafiq's supporters arrived at the scene. The police said eight suspects were arrested near the headquarters.

The attack came hours after it was announced that Shafiq, an independent and the last Prime Minister of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, would compete in a run-off on June 16 and 17 against the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi who ran for the Islamists’ Freedom and Justice Party. The Election Commission confirmed that Mursi had scored 24.3 per cent of the vote while Shafiq won 23.3 per cent; just like media reports had earlier suggested.

Mursi won close to 5.8 million votes while Shafiq received 5.5 million votes. Hamdeen Sabahi, a socialist, finished third with 21 per cent of votes and the fourth place went to moderate Islamist, Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh with 20.7 per cent. Former Arab League Secretary General and Foreign Minister, Amr Moussa came fifth with 11.1 per cent. The turnout was about 50 percent.

As many Egyptians had feared, the transition process is getting increasingly divisive. After the announcement of the results, protesters also gathered in Tahrir Square in the capital, Cairo, angry about having to choose between Mursi and Shafiq. There were suggestions that agents provocateurs might have been sent in by supporters of the old regime to play to the advantage of Shafiq. Protests were also reported in Egypt's second city of Alexandria where left-wing candidate Hamdeen Sabahi topped the poll.

According to the Associated Press, AP news agency, the runoff between Mursi and Shafiq is a polarizing contest as it mirrors the conflict between Mubarak - himself a career Air force officer like Shafiq - and the Islamists whom he jailed and tortured throughout his years in power. But it sidelines the mostly young, secular activists who led the popular uprising last year that resulted in Mubarak’s overthrow.