Ruling party wins 97% in Egypt's elections

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party won 97 percent of seats in elections for Egypt's upper house of parliament, according to official results released Wednesday. The Supreme Election Committee released the names of 71 winners, including 12 candidates who won uncontested, and said a runoff for 17 seats where no candidate won a majority would be held Monday. The 71 did not include any names from the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful opposition group, which fielded 19 candidates. The ruling National Democratic Party won 69 seats. One of the remaining two seats went to a candidate from a leftist opposition party and the other to an independent. The Brotherhood also said not a single Brotherhood candidate was among the 17 running in the second round of the elections to be held Monday.