Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Party Wins Sweeping Victory in Parliamentary Election

Posted January 21st, 2012 at 11:50 am (UTC-5)
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The party of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has won a sweeping victory in the country's parliamentary election, taking 47 percent of the seats in the new assembly.

The head of Egypt's election commission, Abdel Moez Ibrahim, announced the final results on Saturday.

''Freedom and Justice party, the political wing of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood – 10 million one hundred and thirty four thousand voted, the number of seats are 127. Second, the Salafi Al-Nour Party – seven million five hundred and thirty four thousand votes with 96 seats, the Wafd Party – two million and forty eight thousand, making 36 seats.”

The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party won 235 of the 498 seats in the People's Assembly, including a 108 in the first-past-the-post constituency votes.

Two-thirds of the seats in the new lower house are allocated to registered parties, with the remainder won by individual candidates. The ruling military council will appoint 10 other members.

The hardline Islamist Al-Nur party is the assembly's second largest bloc, with 29 percent of the seats won on party lists. The liberal Wafd party came in third and the Egyptian Bloc coalition came in fourth.

Banned under former President Hosni Mubarak, the Brotherhood will now play a major role in drafting the country's new constitution.

Elections for parliament's upper house are set for February. The two-chambers will then choose a 100-member body to write a new constitution. A new president is expected to be elected by June.

The elections were the first since the overthrow of Mr. Mubarak last February. The complex election system was carried out in three rounds of voting that began in November and wrapped up earlier this month.