Liberal and Leftist Parties Form Bloc in Egypt

In the wake of the muscle flexing of the Islamist bloc recently, 15 Egyptian political parties of liberal and leftist tendency have  created a new bloc, "the Egyptian Bloc," to stand in the upcoming elections. Given the organization of the Muslim Brotherhood standing behind its new Freedom and Justice Party, and the alliance of the old secular Wafd with that party, there is concern that the parties of the center and left will divide votes among them and win few seats. The new bloc, if it can hold together, seeks to avoid that.