Faith

Reports: Partial Votes Show Islamist Lead in Egypt’s Parliamentary Elections

Islamist Parties Are Reportedly Leading in Egypts Elections | Muslim Brotherhood

CAIRO (The Blaze/AP) — Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood was leading in initial, partial results from Egypt’s parliamentary elections but it was facing stiff competition in many places both from more hard-line Islamic groups and from a liberal-secular alliance, judges overseeing counting said Wednesday.

As the Blaze reported earlier this week, the Brotherhood has been expecting to take a substantial portion of the votes. Still, it was too early to extrapolate whether their victory was bigger or smaller than expected, with counting still continuing from the first round of voting, which took place on Monday and Tuesday.

According to Business Week, Mohammed El-Beltagy, an official at the Freedom and Justice Party set up by the Brotherhood, claims that the party may have secured at least 40 percent of counted votes. The Brotherhood’s biggest election showing under Mubarak came in 2005, when they won 20 percent of the seats.

“These are the first real elections that Egypt has witnessed [in decades]. The most important thing is for this to be a free vote, regardless of who wins, as this will reflect the will of the people,” said Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information. This week‘s election constitutes the first of three parts in Egypt’s parliamentary voting.

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The Brotherhood had the biggest share of votes in the capital Cairo and the country’s second biggest city, Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, as well as the southern city of Luxor, Port Said on the Suez Canal, and Kafr el-Sheikh, a major city in the Nile Delta, according to judges in each area.

The Nour Party, made up of ultraconservative Islamic Salafis, and an alliance of liberal-secular parties known as the Egyptian Bloc came next, roughly running at the same rate, the judges said. They were unable to give proportions for each faction.

Between half and 80 percent of the votes had been counted in those areas, they said. The judges, who oversee the count, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the partial results.

The elections for the 498-seat People’s Assembly, the lower house of parliament, are taking place in three two-day stages, stretched out until January. In each round, part of the country votes. The areas that voted on Monday and Tuesday – nine of Egypt’s 27 provinces – will determine about 30 percent of the seats.

Two different voting systems are being used, further complicating the situation. Two-thirds of the seats nationwide are determined by lists: A voter selects a party or alliance of parties, and the seats of a district are divvied up among parties in accordance to the number of votes they get. The rest of the seats are determined by races in which individual candidates are competing against each other directly.

The Brotherhood was running strongest in the list races, the judges said, while facing stronger competition in the individual races, where a candidate’s personal ties often play a stronger role.

For example, in the southern province of Assiut, where 20 percent of the votes remained to be counted, the Brotherhood led in the list races, followed by the Egyptian Bloc, which was boosted by the area’s large Christian population. Individual races were much tighter, often between Brotherhood candidates and those of Gamaa Islamiya, a former Islamic militant group that renounced violence, or former members of Mubarak’s dissolved ruling party.

Individual candidates will have to enter run-off elections if no one gets 50 percent in the first round. Any run-offs will take place in a week, before the next section of the country votes in the second round on Dec. 14-15.

The parliament that will emerge from the process will have severe limitations on it, imposed by the military, which took power after Mubarak’s Feb. 11 fall. It’s not even clear how long the parliament will sit. The new constitution is supposed to be drafted and approved by late June, and that may require a whole new election.

The ruling generals have said they will put together the new government, not parliament, and lawmakers will have no power to dissolve it. In theory, the parliament is tasked to elect a 100-member assembly to write the constitution. But the military has insisted that it will chose most of the assembly’s members.

The Brotherhood, however, is likely to demand real powers for the parliament, possibly leading to frictions with the military.

In many ways, the race serves most as the first real gauge of the various political factions’ strength. Under Mubarak’s nearly 30-year rule, elections were largely rigged to ensure victories by his ruling party. The Brotherhood, which was banned, ran candidates as independents and was the strongest opposition force. Officially approved opposition parties were kept weak by the regime.

Just after polls closed on Tuesday, fighting erupted between protesters and angry street vendors at Cairo’s Tahrir Square leaving some 80 injured.

The protesters, who have camped out for more than 10 days at the square demanding Egypt’s military rulers step down, tried to clear the area of street vendors, who brought in thugs and hurled stones and fire balls back.

After the clashes subsided early Wednesday, the protesters lined up metal barricades and dumpsters to protect their camp. The official says the injured were taken to hospital. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Comments (23)

  • heartitorleaveit
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 4:14am

    sirhan-
    Some doofus named ‘Yusuf Ali’ added the word ‘Abraham’ to your quran translations to make it read: “We gave (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob, and ordained among his progeny Prophethood and Revelation.” FACT!
    Ill bet this really ****** of a lot of you freaks that he would fudge this whole thing up like that!
    By adding Abraham, it is possible to include Muhammad in the prophetic line!FACT! (this however debunks YOUR entire religion!)
    OUCH!
    However, Abraham is not found in the Arabic text of the Qur’an which YOU consider to be perfectly correct!
    Muhammad came from Ishmael, FACT!
    Heirs to the Jewish throne came from Isaac. FACT !
    The Torah states, “My covenant I will establish with Isaac,” (Genesis 17:21)FACT! Later, God repeats the same message, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” (Genesis 21:12)FACT!
    You defend this abomination called the quran by quoting it!
    YOU ASKED FOR PROOF THAT ISLAM IS THE RELIGION OF THE ANTICHRIST AND NOW YOU HAVE IT! FACT!
    We all know you hate women. FACT
    We all know you hate Christians. FACT.
    We all know hate Jews. FACT.
    We all know you hate anyone but Muslims. FACT.
    We all know your the antichrist!

    Get your hatred off our site! Keep it in your own country. Leave the us alone. And we MIGHT let you step into the 21st century…..
    dork

    Report Post » heartitorleaveit  
  • heartitorleaveit
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 10:47am

    Bukhari:V7B67N427 “The Prophet said, ‘If I take an oath and later find something else better than that, then I do what is better and expiate my oath.’”

    Report Post » heartitorleaveit  
  • heartitorleaveit
    Posted on December 1, 2011 at 1:36pm

    Q: How many muslims does it take to change a light bulb?

    A: None, they’d just sit in the dark for thousands of years blaming the Jews.

    Report Post » heartitorleaveit  
  • heartitorleaveit
    Posted on December 1, 2011 at 1:13pm

    cropdusters armed with bacon grease…… followed by napalm…… we ARE behind every tree! friggin Came/jockeys!

    Report Post » heartitorleaveit  
  • georgiavietvet
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 7:15pm

    is anyone surprised? the muslim brotherhood will take over and egypt will become a radical muslim nation. the same will happen in libya and syria……………………..

    Report Post »  
  • nogray
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 5:48pm

    Islam is simply a scurge on the earth

    Report Post »  
  • Windsong
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 4:54pm

    I wonder how long it will take for Egyptians, especially the women, to figure out that they are not only giving up their sovereignty, but any freedoms they have known during their lifetime.
    I found it interesting when I heard a ‘modern’ Egytian woman speak with a newscaster this morning. She said that, if the stories about Sharia law and the Muslim Brotherhood were true, then Egypt would not be where she would live. So, what were Egyptians fighting for during the ‘Arab spring’? Apparently it wasn’t freedom or sovereignty. And now, we find out that they have no intention of fighting for freedom in their own country. Is it fear of the brotherhood, or are the Egyptian people really that misinformed? I pity the Eyptian patriots who appreciate their land and it’s history. It sounds as though they are all alone.

    Report Post »  
  • independentvoteril
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 12:04pm

    Anyone on these boards surprised?? WHERE’S Hilary and all those SPECIALISTS on the MUSLIM BROTHER HOOD TODAY? sure is QUIET in D.C…

    Report Post » independentvoteril  
  • NickyLouse
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 12:01pm

    The beast from the sea had its (?) fatal head wound on March 3, 1924, but there are many attempting to revive it today.

    Report Post » NickyLouse  
  • TXVET48
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 9:34am

    No one is surprised by this outcome. It’s sad that US money was spent to help elect an Islamic government intent on overthrowing our government. We need to stop interfering with other countries. Let them live as they choose and die as they wish. Let’s protect ourselves first. Guard our borders. Stop the infiltration of illegals, drugs, and terrorists.

    Report Post » TXVET48  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 8:56am

    Just as Obama planned it……

    Report Post »  
  • Miyegombo Bayartsogt
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 8:28am

    The vast majority of Egyptian women, between 80 and 90 percent, have already suffered genital mutilation. If you don’t know what that horror show means, look it up. Muslim females have their sexuality cut out at an early age guaranteeing they will become bitter old women. Combine that with Koranic enforced stupidity and misogyny you get goats happily voting to be butchered. It is a sad state of affairs, but there it is. G.W.Bush was wrong when he said despite all the jihad and martyrdom and murder institutionalized in the creed that Islam was a religion of peace. But Bush was also wrong when he said people long to live free. Clearly, if we look at the rise of Islam and its benighted beliefs, there are plenty of people on this poor, pious planet who will mutilate girls and radicalize boys till they all grow up hating modernity and voting in evil totalitarianism. Ally allah ackbar, this is not going to end well.

    Report Post »  
    • 13th Imam
      Posted on November 30, 2011 at 8:39am

      Much like DEMOCRAT women. Who have been mentally mutilated, to think that murdering your unborn child is OK. Or that stepping on the throat of the successful , then stealing their wallet is OK.

      Report Post » 13th Imam  
  • cemerius
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 8:22am

    Uh, Really?? This is a surprise breaking news? I would expect more from the blaze but, I see they are somewhat blinded to the fact that ALL of ISlam is fanatical to a degree (depending on your interpretation of Sharia)! Wake Up!!! Smell the Arabica coffee and we can live in peace ONLY if we approach in strength!! IF not, prepare yourselves to be subjects…….

    Report Post » cemerius  
    • Miyegombo Bayartsogt
      Posted on November 30, 2011 at 8:31am

      The problem with Islamic fundamentalists is the fundamentals of Islam. There are no degrees of evil here, just an intolerant, barbaric creed that creates poverty and ignorance wherever it comes into power.

      Report Post »  
  • ares338
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 8:20am

    Ya think?

    Report Post » ares338  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 8:16am

    .
    This is gonna be great “Uncle Spank‘s Rock Chunk’in Empourium” opens Friday in Cario…..

    Howdy Hi there friends and neighbors. This is your old buddy Uncle Spank saying, “Come on down to ”Uncle Spank‘s Rock Chunk’in Empourium”. Have we got a deal for you. We got yer big rocks, we got yer little rocks, we got sharp ones, we got smooth ones, Hell we got rocks for all occasions. If you need to get your rocks off, just head on down to “Uncle Spank‘s Rock Chunk’in Empourium” and get you a handfull……….

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
  • cassandra
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 7:46am

    Well when the muslim brotherhood takes over all those women you see with scarves and cell phones will be wearing a burka frome head to toe not be using a cell phone,not allowed to go to school,work and will be locked in the house unless they go out to shop attended with an escort I’ll pray for those women

    Report Post »  
    • SpankDaMonkey
      Posted on November 30, 2011 at 8:00am

      .
      No silly their gonna go join the Obedient Wives Club………..

      Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • kmbr
      Posted on November 30, 2011 at 8:09am

      Oh no, you must be wrong. I have watched American Muslim. Why, they are just like us. You can even have fake boobs, wear miniskirts and open a night club as an Islamic woman. it’s a choice to wear the hijab…er sometimes, for a while.

      Report Post »  
  • Tickdog
    Posted on November 30, 2011 at 7:30am

    Soon to be in america… get ready..

    Report Post » Tickdog  
    • GIDEON612
      Posted on November 30, 2011 at 7:38am

      There will be massive bloodshed before that happens.

      Report Post » GIDEON612  

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