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-organised 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.
Full Article: Islamists ahead as Egypt vote enters final leg | World | Reuters.