7 March 2013 Last updated at 07:10 ET

Egypt profile

President: Mohammed Morsi

Mohammed Morsi's rule has been marked by constitutional deadlock

The chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party, Mohammed Morsi, won the presidential election in 2012 to become Egypt's first freely-elected head of state.

A veteran member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which founded the Freedom and Justice Party as its political wing after the 2011 uprising, he only became its presidential candidate when it became clear that the electoral commission was going to disqualify initial Brotherhood hopeful Khairat al-Shater.

He narrowly beat Ahmed Shafiq, a Mubarak-era general and former prime minister, in an election run-off marred by a low turnout and haunted by rumours of vote-fixing and a possible military coup to pre-empt his win.

Coptic Christians, liberals and many women remain to be convinced that the president will respect their rights, and his record in office has given few grounds for optimism, marked as it has been by endless constitutional confusion and jockeying for position.

Mr Morsi quickly clashed with the army, which tried to award itself legislative powers after the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the new Islamist-dominated parliament.

The president, however, ordered parliament to convene in defiance to the military, and several months later used a series of Islamist attacks in Sinai, for which the military were ill-prepared, to force out senior officers and rescind the army's say in legislative and constitutional matters.

In November 2012, he signed a decree stating that the president's decisions cannot be revoked by any authority, including the judiciary, in a move seen as aimed at stopping the constitutional court from dissolving the assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution.

Soon afterwards, the Islamist-dominated body voted to approve the final draft of the new constitution in a session boycotted by most liberals, and Mr Morsi quickly announced a referendum would be held on 15 December.

All three moves incensed secularists and liberals, who accused Mr Morsi and the Islamists of trying to rush through a constitution that they believe curtails freedoms and leans towards Islamism. They called mass protests which quickly turned violent.

In an apparent concession, Mr Morsi rescinded the decree awarding himself new powers, but refused to back down on the constitution, which was duly approved at the referendum.

More than 50 people were killed in days of violent opposition street protests, and President Morsi decided to bring forward parliamentary elections to April. The main opposition National Salvation Front announced a boycott of the vote just before a court suspended the planned polls over parliament's failure to refer the electoral law to the Constitutional Court, leaving Egypt again on the brink of turmoil.

Born in 1951 and trained as an engineer at home and in the United States, Mohammed Morsi served as an independent MP in 2000-2005. The Brotherhood was not officially allowed to stand for parliament at the time.

He won respect for his speeches against government corruption and incompetence, and rapidly rose to a senior position within the Brotherhood's Guidance Council before the 2011 uprising.

Prime Minister: Hisham Qandil

Hisham Qandil

President Morsi surprised political observers by appointing Irrigation Minister Hisham Qandil as prime minister in July 2012.

The low-profile, US-educated technocrat had worked earlier on Nile River projects, including the often-fraught question of sharing Nile resources with Sudan.

He appointed a government in which most ministers are technocrats or former members of the previous, military-appointed government, including the ministers of finance, defence, foreign affairs and the interior.

President Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood took only four ministries, of which the most significant is the information portfolio, which oversees the influential state-owned media.

There are nonetheless a number of other Islamist ministers, and secular parties have complained at their exclusion from the cabinet.

Mr Qandil's term in office has been overshadowed by the continuing controversy over the constitution, and he faces criticism for failing to address Egypt's ailing economy and stalled talks with the IMF.