The Muslim bloc leading the vote count in Egypt

The Muslim bloc leading the vote count in Egypt

The Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said early indications showed it was ahead in the races for seats allocated both by party list and to individuals. In the party list race it was followed by the Islamist Salafi al-Nour Party and the liberal
Egyptian Bloc, it said in a statement.

Two thirds of seats will be allocated by party list and one third to individuals.

An FJP source, who declined to be named, said an FJP-led list had won about 40 percent of the party-list votes so far.

That result, if confirmed and repeated in the rest of the country during the staggered six-week poll, would give Egypt’s oldest and best-organised Islamist group a powerful bloc in the next assembly, perhaps setting the stage for a power struggle with the
ruling military.

An army council that took over from Mubarak has said the new parliament will not be able to dismiss a cabinet or form a new one, but the FJP’s leader said on Tuesday the majority in parliament should form the next government.

The government resigned last week amid demonstrations in which 42 people were killed in clashes between police and protesters demanding an end to army rule. The generals picked a new prime minister days before the parliamentary election on Monday and Tuesday.

Monday and Tuesday’s voting, the first of three rounds which will each be followed by run-offs, passed off mostly peacefully, but violence broke out on Tuesday in Cairo’s protest hub of Tahrir Square where nearly 80 people were wounded.

Voting for the lower house lasts until January 11.

Initial first round results are expected to trickle out on Wednesday after a high turnout and only minor infringements were reported in the first free election since army officers overthrew Egypt’s monarchy in 1953.

Monitors reported logistical hiccups and some campaign violations but no serious violence to disrupt the vote. Election posters and banners festooned towns and cities while judges officiated under the eye of troops, police and vote monitors.

The outcome of the election in the most populous Arab country will help shape the future of a region convulsed by uprisings against decades of autocracy.

Though the Brotherhood did not start the Egyptian revolt, it is among its major beneficiaries. Outlawed by Mubarak and his predecessors, the group has now edged closer to political power.

Islamist parties in Morocco and Tunisia have come out on top in parliamentary elections in the past two months.

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Posted by Hassan Ali on Nov 30 2011. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry