By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A surprise showing has given the Muslim Brotherhood its strongest political foothold ever heading into the second round of Egypt's parliamentary elections Sunday - a vote that is hinting at what democracy might look like in the Arab world's largest country.
Secularists and Christians, however, were unsettled by the Brotherhood's showing in the first round where the country's oldest Islamic fundamentalist group took 34 seats, doubling its presence in parliament.
The victories have established the Brotherhood as the leader of the opposition and have proven what the government has always feared: that the banned group is popular among Egyptians despite - or because of - frequent crackdowns and the government's media campaign against it.