CAIRO,
November 16, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Semi
official results of the runoffs in Egypt's first round of
parliamentary elections showed the country's opposition, led by the
Muslim Brotherhood, posing a serious challenge to the dominant
National Democratic Party (NDP).
According
to semi official results Wednesday, November 16, the NDP grabbed 64
seats out of the 164 up for grabs in the first round that witnessed
voting Wednesday, November 9 and runoffs Tuesday.
The
banned, but largely tolerated, Muslim Brotherhood, however, emerged as
the main player in the first round, grabbing 30 seats in the runoffs,
in addition to 4 other seats that were settled without a runoff, a
group source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Wednesday, November 16.
Traditional
opposition and other political parties grabbed seven seats, whereas
independents grabbed 42 seats. The rest of seats are still to be
declared or are bogged down legal rulings annulling declared results.
Most
independents are NDP renegades, who decided to go ahead and seek a
parliamentary seat on their own after being overlooked by the ruling
party. Prior to the elections, NDP official stated that renegades
would not be admitted back into the party's fold even if they did
pass. But it is not clear whether this will be the case now.
Major
Victory
The
stunning performance by the Muslim Brotherhood in the first round was
enforced in the runoffs Tuesday after 30 out of 42 candidates made it
to parliament, with leading figure Essam El-Erian accusing the NDP of
cheating the Islamist group out of "six more seats at
least".
El-Erian
told Al-Jazeera that rigging and irregularities cost the Muslim
Brotherhood "unexpected losses", citing Nasir City candidate
Makarim El-Deeri, who was leading the polls, but NDP ceramics magnate
Mostafa El-Sallab was declared victorious.
El-Deeri
was the Muslim Brothers' only female candidate in the polls.
In
Cairo, Muslim Brotherhood members won seats in Al-Sahel, Dar El-Salam,
Old Cairo, Nozha, Abdeen, Tibeen and Heliopolis.
In
Giza, Muslim Brotherhood members won in Giza downtown, Hawamdeya and
Ayatt.
In
Beni Sueif, south Cairo, where several violent incidents took place
and most of the injuries were reported, two Muslim Brothers won.
In
Menya, a Muslim Brotherhood stronghold, 100% of the seats at stake in
runoffs went to the group members who won six seats, as per semi final
results.
The
Central Upper Egyptian governorate witnessed the loss of NDP
heavyweight Mostafa Ammer, a brother of former minister of defense
Abdel-Hakim Ammer.
In
Assiut, Muslim Brotherhood won 12 seats compared to 9 that went to the
NDP.
In
Menoufiya, NDP chairman President Hosni Mubarak's hometown, Muslim
Brotherhood won four seats.
NDP
Struggle
 |
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Gamal Mubarak.
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The
loss of Hossam Badrawi, one of NDP heavyweights and a close aid and
favorite to Gamal Mubarak, son of President Hosni Mubarak, lost his
seat in Kasr El-Nile constituency to an NDP renegade, gave room to
strong rumors of NDP differences and struggle between Mubarak's
henchmen (dubbed as the old guard) and his son's new generation.
Hisham
Mostafa Khalil, son of former premier Mostafa Khalil and a favorite of
the NDP old guard won in Kasr El-Nile.
Also,
another NDP heavyweight, Faida Kamil, lost the seat she retained for
33 years in Cairo's Khalifa constituency.
In
Giza's slump of Imbaba, NDP candidates won, driving supporters of
their rivals -- NDP renegades -- to set ablaze the NDP building in the
area.
Witnesses
said the attack by a group of between 30 and 50 men on the one-storey
building took place late Tuesday, when Egyptian legislative elections
turned violent.
"A
group of men broke the windows of the building. Then they broke the
door down, entered the building and set it on fire," witnesses
told Reuters.
"Police
have arrested two men in relation to the incident ... The group was
made up of supporters of the rival candidate in the elections," a
security official said.
El-Erian
distance the opposition, especially Muslim Brothers, from the
incident, telling Al-Jazeera NDP supporters were to blame.
Voters
in eight of Egypt's governorates cast ballot Wednesday in the first
round of an almost month-long three-phase parliamentary polls.
This
first round of elections involved a total of 1,635 candidates vying
for 164 of the People's Assembly's 444 seats that are up for grabs.
Cairo,
Giza, Menoufiya, Beni Sueif, Menya, Assiut, New Valley and Mersa
Matrouh are the governorates that witnessed the voting.
The
second phase of polls is to take place November 20 (run-off 6 days
later), with the third and final one taking place December 1 (run-off
to be December 7) and the new parliament is to convene December 20.
