الرئيسية
CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamists aimed to cement control over Egypt's
lower house of parliament as a final phase of voting began on Tuesday,
while a secular party's plan to boycott elections for the upper chamber
threatened to weaken the liberal bloc.
Banned under Hosni Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as a
major winner from the uprising that toppled him, exploiting a
well-organized support base in the first free legislative vote in
decades.
Islamists of various stripes are expected to win 60 percent of the
498 elected seats in the assembly's lower house, with the Brotherhood
taking some 41 percent, by its own count.
Its showing will give it a stronger role in shaping a new
constitution and make it a force to be reckoned with for the country's
military rulers, but the Brotherhood has promised for now to cooperate
with the army-backed government.
Despite the Brotherhood's assurances, the strong Islamist showing has
caused consternation among liberal opponents and Tuesday's run-offs
were overshadowed by one party's surprise decision to boycott elections
for the Shura Council.
The Free Egyptians Party (FEP) co-founded by telecom tycoon Naguib
Sawiris said it would boycott in protest against what it said were
violations committed by Islamist parties in earlier voting rounds.
"The process has turned into a religious competition rather than an
electoral one, which amounts to a forging of awareness whose effect on
the results is no less than the physical forging that used to happen,"
the FEP said in a statement.
lower house of parliament as a final phase of voting began on Tuesday,
while a secular party's plan to boycott elections for the upper chamber
threatened to weaken the liberal bloc.
Banned under Hosni Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as a
major winner from the uprising that toppled him, exploiting a
well-organized support base in the first free legislative vote in
decades.
Islamists of various stripes are expected to win 60 percent of the
498 elected seats in the assembly's lower house, with the Brotherhood
taking some 41 percent, by its own count.
Its showing will give it a stronger role in shaping a new
constitution and make it a force to be reckoned with for the country's
military rulers, but the Brotherhood has promised for now to cooperate
with the army-backed government.
Despite the Brotherhood's assurances, the strong Islamist showing has
caused consternation among liberal opponents and Tuesday's run-offs
were overshadowed by one party's surprise decision to boycott elections
for the Shura Council.
The Free Egyptians Party (FEP) co-founded by telecom tycoon Naguib
Sawiris said it would boycott in protest against what it said were
violations committed by Islamist parties in earlier voting rounds.
"The process has turned into a religious competition rather than an
electoral one, which amounts to a forging of awareness whose effect on
the results is no less than the physical forging that used to happen,"
the FEP said in a statement.