Egypt votes in 2nd round, Islamist win forecasted

Parliamentary elections continue in various regions of country; analysts expect Muslim Brotherhood's showing to continue.

By REUTERS
Egypt elections 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Egypt elections 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
CAIRO - Egyptians voting on Thursday said they felt empowered by the first free election after Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, a poll likely to give Islamists the upper hand in a parliament that will help shape Egypt's new constitution.
Islamist-led party lists secured about two-thirds of votes in the first round of the election. However, the Islamists are a broad and divided camp, which analysts say gives liberals a chance to make their voices heard in the new assembly.
RELATED:Egyptian elections: The military’s window of opportunity?Egypt liberal calls for shift in tacticsAs in the first round, voting was mainly peaceful, but independent monitoring groups have reported irregularities such as campaigning outside polling stations. The army, which is guarding polling stations, promised to confront such practices.
Regions voting in the second round include Giza, a part of Cairo; the eastern cities of Ismailiya and Suez; Aswan and Sohag to the south; and Nile Delta regions in the north.  Official results are expected on Saturday or Sunday, but parties are likely to estimate their performance before that.
The army, which took over after Mubarak was ousted, remains in charge until a presidential election in mid-2012, but parliament will have a popular mandate that the military will find difficult to ignore as it oversees the transition.
Parliament's prime job will be appointing a 100-strong assembly to write a constitution defining the powers of the president, parliament and perhaps the army in the new Egypt.
The ruling army council fuelled suspicions it wanted to hang on to power, even after a new president was elected, when its cabinet proposed inserting articles in the new constitution that would have shielded it from civilian scrutiny.
Out in front after the first round of voting last month was a list led by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, with about 37 percent of the vote. One led by the hardline Salafi al-Nour Party was the surprise runner-up with 24 percent. Liberal lists led by the Egyptian Bloc and the Wafd Party together secured about 20 percent.
The liberal camp has sought to revitalize its campaign, but Karin Maree of the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit said she expected no big change in the overall trend even though first-round results would influence second-round voters.
She said al-Nour could lose a little ground and the Egyptian Bloc's "share of seats is likely to grow slightly as voters seek to limit the influence of Islamist parties".