Muslim Brotherhood strongly supported in Egypt poll

Muslim Brotherhood strongly supported in Egypt poll

The Muslim Brotherhood has reaffirmed its position as Egypt’s main opposition force, more than doubling its seats in parliament in the early stages of legislative elections in spite of independent reports of fraud by the ruling National Democratic party (NDP).

 
“We won 34 seats and we could have won even more had there not been wrongdoing,” Mohamed Habib, the Brotherhood’s deputy leader, said following first round run-offs yesterday.

The elections, spread across the country over a month in three two-round stages, are being scrutinised at home and in Washington for signs of commitment by President Hosni Mubarak’s regime to greater democracy.

The NDP is expected to retain overwhelming dominance of parliament and has won at least 68 of 164 seats contested so far, according to preliminary results. The party may reclaim dozens more seats that went to NDP renegades running as independents, if they rejoin the party as they have done in past polls.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been banned for half a century but may seek to use a greater presence in parliament to push its case for legitimisation. Its candidates had to run as independents, campaigning for greater political freedom and for the country’s laws to conform to Islamic strictures.

“We connect better with Egyptians and understand them better than others do,” Mr Habib said, commenting on the poor showing of other leftist and liberal parties that have won as few as six seats so far.

“What has allowed the Brotherhood to do well is their persistence, their sound and careful logistical planning and the fact that they placed unlimited resources in these elections,” said Mohamed Sayyed Said, deputy director of the Al Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies.

“Other opposition parties have not managed to mobilise the youth like the Brotherhood has, which is one of its many strengths,” he said.

In a blow to a younger generation of reformers within the NDP, Dr Hossam Badrawi lost his seat in central Cairo to an independent. Dr Badrawi is among the few ruling party members who openly advocated speeding up the pace of political change.