Egypt’s Islamists claimed victory in the first round of parliamentary elections since President Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office in February.
The relatively moderate Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party on Wednesday said on its website that it had won 34 seats in the runoff election.
Hardline Al Nour Salafi Party won five seats, according to its website.
Voters went to the polls in the first round of elections on November 28 and 29, and the runoff Monday and Tuesday.
The strong performance of Islamist parties raised eyebrows in some Western capitals.
On one hand, analysts say, the West is inclined to support popular Arab Spring movements that have toppled dictators and ushered democracy into the region. On the other hand, they worry about the ascension of radical Islamist movements in a region of critical interest to the United States and its allies.
“I don’t think any Western government is happy about the result of the elections,” said Marina Ottaway, a Middle East analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace.
While the Muslim Brotherhood has pledged to respect minority rights and work with liberal parties, there have been concerns on the success of al-Nour, a Salafist party that supports broader application of strict Islamic law in Egypt.
The vote results came as military rulers granted the newly-appointed prime minister most powers of the president Wednesday.
Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri then swiftly swore in his Cabinet.
Ganzouri was given all presidential powers except control over the military and the judiciary, said Lt. Col. Amr Imam, the armed forces spokesman.
“The new national government will be the salvation government of the January 28 revolution,” Ganzouri said on state television Tuesday.
The new Cabinet will serve until the presidential elections.
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
But they are split between different parties that don’t especially like each other (perhaps analagous to the distinctions between Hareidim and Modern Orthodox), and the only common points in their agenda are that they dislike non-Muslims (a problem for Egypt’s Christians) and want to oppose Israel (though that is a point that virtually all Muslims and Arabs agree on, so it isn’t a big deal). Remember that the “moderates” who made the peace treaty with Israel did not do so because of love of Israel or a love of peace, but out of fear of the consequences of another war (a few bombs in the right places and Egypt has lost the last 100 years of economic development).