'Egypt Islamists win nearly 2 thirds of seats'
By REUTERS
LAST UPDATED: 01/07/2012 22:29
Muslim Brotherhood claims to have won 41% of vote in lower house of parliament, hardline Islamist Nour Party takes 20%.
Sayyida Zainab mosque is seen in Cairo Photo: Reuters
CAIRO - The Muslim
Brotherhood said on Saturday it had won at least 41 percent of the seats
in Egypt's lower house of parliament, with Islamists of various stripes
occupying almost two thirds of the assembly so far.
Banned under
deposed president Hosni Mubarak, the Brotherhood has emerged as a major
winner from the uprising that toppled him, exploiting a well-organized
support base in the first free legislative vote in decades.
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It
may be some weeks before the exact shape of the lower house is known
because of various runoff votes. However, it is unlikely that their
outcome will alter the dominance of the Islamists who now look set to
wield major influence over the shape a new constitution to be drafted by
a 100-strong body that the new assembly will pick.
The Brotherhood has promised that Egyptians of all persuasions will have
their say and, while the strong Islamist performance has alarmed some
Egyptians and Western governments that backed Mubarak, it is far from
clear whether rival Islamists will cooperate in the new legislature.
The Brotherhood's Democratic Alliance list has won 41 percent of the
seats so far, while another list led by the hardline Islamist Nour Party
came second with 20 percent of the seats.
The Nour Party seeks strict application of Islamic law and the more
moderate Brotherhood may seek an alliance with liberal groups to allay
concerns about the prospect of an Islamist-led Egypt.
Sixty-two percent of potential voters cast their ballots in the third
round of the election, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday,
Egypt's election commission said.
Fight to shape constitution set to begin
With the elections for the lower house drawing to a close, the debate is
now likely to shift to the new constitution that will replace the
Mubarak-era document.
One main area of discussion will be whether there should be a dilution of presidential powers which underpinned his rule.
Those powers are now exercised by the ruling Supreme Council of the
Armed Forces, which has faced mounting criticism from activists who
accuse it of seeking to hold on to power and privilege.
The military is set to rule until the end of June, by which time they
say Egyptians will have elected a president to whom they will hand
power.
The commission has yet to issue the official results because of the
runoffs for seats being contested by individual candidates take place on
Jan. 10 and 11, and voting must be repeated in a district where the
election was canceled due to irregularities in the first round.
That leaves about 11 percent of seats in the 498-seat lower house as yet
undecided, according to a chart of the new parliament posted on the
Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party Facebook page.
The partial results issued by the Muslim Brotherhood on Saturday suggest non-religious parties have performed poorly.
They suggested the liberal Egyptian Bloc winning 9 percent of the seats
so far, the Wafd party taking 9 percent and former Mubarak loyalists
taking 4 percent of the vote - a stronger performance than the
Revolution Continues coalition of youth activists who won just 2 percent
of the seats.
The moderate Islamist Al Wasat won 2 percent, while the rest were taken by independents.
Elections are also set to begin in the coming weeks for the upper house of parliament.