Islamists secure lead in Egypt’s parliamentary elections

By Leila Fadel, Saturday, January 7, 6:27 PM

CAIRO — Islamist parties, as expected, secured Saturday a majority of seats in the lower house of Egypt’s first post-revolution parliament, setting the stage for intensive political dealmaking before the legislature meets at the end of the month.

According to party projections, Islamists won about 62 percent of the popular vote in the final round of the multi­phased elections, although the final result will not be known until after runoffs for individual seats are held this week.

The Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, is now clearly the most powerful political force in the first elected body since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February, with no one party winning an outright majority.

Freedom and Justice said in a statement on its Web site that it appears to have won 41 percent of the seats in the lower house, followed by 21 percent for the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party. Whatever alliance the relatively moderate Islamist party cobbles together is likely to control both the legislature’s agenda and the makeup of a body that will write the country’s constitution, analysts say.

The lower house, known as the People’s Assembly, is the most important body in Egypt’s bicameral system. It includes 498 seats chosen by voters and an additional 10 to be chosen by the country’s interim military rulers in their capacity as Egypt’s de facto presidential authority.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE WASHINGTON POST 

Pope of Egyptian Church Proposes Dialogue with Islamists Following Election

Pope Shenouda III, head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, held a meeting on Thursday with a delegation from the Anglican Church concerning a proposal to begin dialogue with Islamist groups that recently won a significant number of seats in parliamentary elections.

Shenouda and a number of senior bishops in the Orthodox Church met with the delegation, which was led by the head of the Anglican Communion, Safwat al-Bayaadi.

A church source told the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) that the participants in the meeting discussed means of holding constructive dialogue with Islamists following their triumph in the elections. The participants agreed to respect the people’s choice in Egypt’s first democratic elections, irrespective of the results.

The Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi-oriented Nour Party have so far won the majority of seats in ongoing parliamentary elections that began on 28 November.

Rival Islamist blocs leading in Egyptian vote

It’s been a historic week for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the prime beneficiary in the first round of voting for the country’s new parliament. Fully 62 per cent of eligible Egyptians cast ballots this week, and more of them voted for the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party than for any other party or alliance.

 

MORE RELATED TO THIS STORY

• Egypt’s voter turnout more than 60 per cent in first wave of elections
• In Cairo’s Maadi district, views from varying rungs of the social ladder meet
• Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt should follow moderate Tunisian model

VIDEO

While election officials declined Friday evening to reveal returns until all three rounds of voting have been completed in early January, leaks from the organization and from judges overseeing the process indicate that about 40 per cent of the ballots were cast for the Islamist FJP.

For them, that’s the good news.

However, the last thing the Brotherhood wanted was to have its upstart Islamist rivals, the Salafists, running in second place in the voting, with as much as 25 per cent of the vote.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL