NDP Nearly Sweeps First Round; No Seats Yet for Brotherhood

Egypt's Parliamentary elections yesterday, which defiantly rejected the presence of foreign election observers, seem to have gone about as most observers expected: widespread accusaations of feraud, rigging, and ballot-stuffing, some violence (somewhere between two and eight dead depending on the report), and a near sweep for the ruling National Democratic Party.

Last time around, in 2005, the Muslim Brotherhood won a stunning 88 seats, out of 508 elected seats. (That was, admittedly, permitted in part to show the US that pressure for democratization could produce unwelcome results. So far in yesterday's vote, not one Brotherhood candidate has been elected outright in round one, though 15 or so will go into next Sunday's runoff round. The Wafd, which many expected to replace the Brotherhood as the main opposition and which has seemed at times to be doing the government's bidding, has won at least five seats, perhaps more, and will have others in the runoff.

Nonetheless, and subject to the results of next week's second round, the opposition could end up with the fewest seats in years, at least in an election which the opposition parties did not boycott altogether.

The government, of course, is setting the stage for next year's Presidential elections, whether Husni Mubarak tries to run for another term or designate a chosen successor.

I'll post more as the final tallies from round one come in.