Official photo of former president Hosni Mubarak. (Wikimedia Commons)

Egypt has seen tension and celebration since Mohamed Mursi was elected president in what many believe is a step towards democracy for the country previously ruled for three decades by Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian court overturned on Tuesday a government rule that allowed the army to arrest civilians, while the military prepares to hand over the government to Mursi on July 1, according to the Christian Science Monitor. 

The Monitor added: The army-backed interim government issued the decree days before a tense presidential run-off vote on June 16-17 to give soldiers the power to detain people during street disturbances.

The Monitor has pictures of the last year's turmoil in Egypt. 

But rights groups and politicians challenged the decision, accusing the military of reviving emergency powers that stymied opposition to Hosni Mubarak until a popular uprising ended his three-decade rule in February last year.

Mursi defeated Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, in a run-off election to lead the new government.  

CBS News reports that Shafiq has left Egypt for the United Arab Emirates hours after the Egyptian prosecutor general started an investigation into whether Shafiq wasted public funds during his eight-year-term as a civil aviation minister.

Bloomberg reports that Mursi will also name a woman and a Christian among his deputies, and will name as many as five vice presidents.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had publicly urged Mursi to embrace the different Egyptian subcultures, including Coptic Christians and young people, according to Reuters.

Mursi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, also faces pressure to please the Salafi Islamists, a strict group of Muslims who helped elect Mursi in the run-off election.

Gaining the support of the military may also be difficult for Mursi, Reuters says.

Mursi's own authority has already been circumscribed by the military, which has long viewed the Brotherhood as a peril to Egypt's secular establishment and must now cohabit with a man it fears will seek to erode its entrenched power and privilege.

The military has also asserted its right to veto the proposals of an assembly supposed to draft a new constitution, in another sign that the generals are bent on retaining a controlling grip on Egypt's future.

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