The Muslim Brotherhood won more than a third of the votes in the last stage of elections for Egypt's lower house of parliament, according to partial results on Friday, which show the Islamists are set to dominate the legislature. Banned under deposed President Hosni Mubarak, the Brotherhood has emerged a major winner from the uprising that toppled him, exploiting a well-organised support base to beat the rest in the first free legislative vote in decades.
The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party list won 37.5 percent of the vote in the third and final stage of voting. Repeating a pattern seen in previous rounds, the hard-line Islamist Nour Party list came second in most of the districts after this week's vote, results on the party website showed. The Islamists now look set to wield major influence over the shape of a new constitution to be drafted by a 100-strong body that the new legislature will pick, though the Brotherhood has promised that Egyptians of all persuasions will have a say. Though the success of the Brotherhood and Nour Party has alarmed some Egyptians and the Western governments which backed Mubarak, it is unclear to what extent the rival Islamists will cooperate or compete in the new legislature.
The Nour Party seeks a strict application of Islamic law and some analysts believe the more moderate Brotherhood may seek an alliance with liberal groups to allay concerns about the prospect of an Islamist-led Egypt. Official results of the voting held this week are due on Saturday, but it will take longer before the exact shape of the 498-seat lower house is known.
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