CAIRO — Ousted Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak is off life-support equipment and his health has improved a day after rumors that he was “clinically dead” swept across the world, his attorney said.

“The hospital will issue a statement shortly about his official medical status to curb the rumors and confusion from last night about his death reported by irresponsible media that has driven the country into a state of madness,” said Farid El Deeb, Mubarak’s attorney.

The development comes as Egyptians anxiously await the outcome of last weekend’s presidential runoff and more information about Mubarak’s deteriorating health.

MENA, a state news agency, reported he was clinically dead late Tuesday. The nation’s military rulers quickly denied it.

“He is not clinically dead as reported, but his health is deteriorating and he is in critical condition,” said Gen. Mamdouh Shahin, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Another state-run media outlet, Nile TV, issued a similar report Wednesday.

It said that Mubarak, 84, was moved to a military hospital in Cairo after suffering a stroke in prison and was on life support. The hospital is guarded and is not letting anyone in, it reported.

Reports of Mubarak’s failing health have taken a back seat to the political and constitutional turmoil in the country.

The country’s military rulers on Thursday plan to release the results of the runoff between Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister to serve under Mubarak, and Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate.

Both men proclaimed themselves winners in the race to succeed Mubarak 16 months after an anti-regime uprising ended his three-decade rule.

Thousands of Egyptians gathered Tuesday night in Cairo’s Tahrir Square — the birthplace of the anti-Mubarak ferment — to show their support for their preferred candidates. Each side in the election accused the other of voting irregularities and called for an investigation.

One independent group that oversaw the elections, an entity called Judges for Egypt, said in a news conference Wednesday that Morsi won, according to their unofficial projections.

But citizens have been questioning how much authority the president will have in the new Egypt after the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has run Egypt since Mubarak’s ouster, stripped the position of much of its power.

“I’m uncertain where we are going,” Salma Othman, a 32-year-old Cairo real estate agent, told CNN. “Why are we electing a president if SCAF is issuing a constitutional decree limiting the powers of the president?”

The state of affairs is “worse than before,” and “nothing’s changed, everyone’s negative,” Massa el Gamal, an 18-year-old Cairo student, told CNN.

“Those with the revolution and those against, everyone just objects to everything. I would hope that that the new president would bring the people together, but what’s happening now is that they are driving people against each other. Don’t they know that they will be president of all Egyptians? By the way, I didn’t vote because I’m not convinced with either candidate,” she said.

Hani Abou Gabal, a 42-year-old public relations manager, said the military rulers are doing all they can to “not give up the country to the Muslim Brotherhood.”

“I hope it will be the liberal who wins — I mean Shafik — and I think there will be some blood before it calms down. By force, the situation Egypt will stabilize — only by force. Force is the only way to deal with Egyptian mentality,” he said.

Shafik is also the favorite for Magda Abdel-Fattah, a 57-year-old human resources manager, because she doesn’t want her “civilization” and “culture erased.”

“In all cases, it will be chaotic,” she said. “In my view, the mob are the ones in the street today (protesting). The cultured revolutionaries are home are in their homes.”

Military rulers dissolved the lower house of parliament last week, extending their power and sparking accusations of a “coup” by demonstrators protesting the military council governing the nation.

The military council announced it had full legislative authority. The Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest Islamist group, was the dominant party in the parliament.

Under an interim constitutional declaration released Monday, the military council retains the power to make laws and budget decisions until a new constitution is written and a new parliament elected. The declaration says Supreme Council members “shall decide all matters related to military affairs, including the appointment of its leaders.” The president has the power to declare war, it says, but only “after the approval” of the Supreme Council.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter — who founded the Carter Center, which issued preliminary findings about the runoff — said he is “deeply troubled by the undemocratic turn” in Egypt’s transition.

“The dissolution of the democratically elected parliament and the return of elements of martial law generated uncertainty about the constitutional process before the election,” he said. “The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ new Constitutional Declaration, in which they carve out special privileges for the military and inject themselves into the constitution drafting process, violates their prior commitment to the Egyptian people to make a full transfer of power to an elected civilian government.”

More than 800 people died and 6,000 were wounded during the uprising that brought an end to Mubarak’s 29-year rule. The ex-president and his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, were convicted of ordering security forces to kill anti-government protesters and could have been sentenced to death.

But both were given life terms instead, and other top aides — as well as Mubarak’s two sons, who had been tried on corruption charges — were acquitted.

Mubarak became president after the in October 1981 assassination of his predecessor, Anwar Sadat. He ruled Egypt with an iron hand as a staunch ally of the United States, which provides about $1.3 billion a year in military aid.

He was sentenced to life in prison on June 2 for the killing of pro-democracy demonstrators during the 2011 revolt that toppled him. He was already suffering from health problems and attended court on a gurney.

Citizens were cynical or fatalistic about the Mubarak health scare Tuesday.

Othman, the Cairo real estate agent, referred to the health scare as a “dishonest staged play.” She said she thinks rumors have been spread “to divert attention from election results.” El Gamal, the Cairo student, said she believes the latest accounts about Mubarak’s health were staged to evoke “sympathy from the street.”

“From a human side, if Mubarak dies, it’s better for him,” Othman said. “But I believe it’s extremely provocative that SCAF announced that they are considering granting him a military funeral. This is outrageous! He is a prisoner.”

El Gamal said she felt sorry that Mubarak was humiliated last year when “people put their shoes in his face,” a reference to a gesture considered highly insulting in the Arab world.

“But that’s changed now,” she said.

“Mubarak’s not any different than anyone else. I feel bad if a dog dies. I feel bad, but I also feel bad about those who died in the revolution — I think of parents who lost a child (in the revolution).”

Gabal, the public relations manager, said that “if he’s really dying, then its mercy from God,” but he doesn’t believe “that Mubarak is as bad as they are trying to make him appear.”

Now, Abdel-Fattah says, Mubarak is “finished.”

“Mubarak died a year and half ago as far as I’m concerned. It wouldn’t bother me if they give a military funeral. I want to move on to make Egypt a better place,” the human resources manager said.

— CNN’s Ivan Watson and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.