The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi proclaimed himself a leader "for all Egyptians", after being declared the winner of Egypt's first free presidential election on Sunday.
Speaking on Egyptian television late on Sunday evening, Morsi vowed to "protect the rights of women and children", as well as Christians and Muslims alike.
"I tell everybody in this memorable day that because of your choice, your will and after God's favour, I am a president for all Egyptians," the 60-year-old engineer and professor said in his speech.
Morsi sought to reach out to the activists by paying tribute to the nearly 900 protesters killed in the uprising. "I wouldn't have been here between your hands as the first elected president without … the blood, the tears and sacrifices of the martyrs," he said.
The president-elect declared he had a "message of peace" and that he would respect all international agreements. He did not mention Israel but the remark seemed to be a reassuring indication that he would respect the peace treaty with the country.
A week ago, when the polls were closing in the runoff election, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) issued constitutional amendments that stripped the president's office of most of its major powers.
The ruling generals made themselves the final arbiters over the most pressing issues still complicating the transition, including writing the constitution, legislating and passing the state budget. They also granted military police broad powers to detain civilians.
A court earlier dissolved the freely elected parliament, which was dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, leaving the military in charge of legislating.
According to the constitutional declaration, the new president won't appoint the defence minister and will lose the title of supreme commander of the armed forces.
Tens of thousands of Morsi's supporters vowed to stay in Tahrir Square, where they celebrated the win, to press for the reversal of those actions by the generals.
Ahmed Abdel-Attie, a Morsi campaign manager, told state television that field marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council, phoned Morsi to congratulate him. He said the pair will meet on Monday.
Pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei urged unity after the results were announced.
"It is time we work all as Egyptians as part of a national consensus to build Egypt that is based on freedom and social justice," he wrote on his Twitter account.