22 Jan 2012

Islamist parties win elections in Egypt

7:54 am on 22 January 2012

Final results in the parliamentary elections in Egypt confirm an overwhelming victory for Islamist parties.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party won the largest number of seats under Egypt's complex electoral system. The Nour party came second.

New Wafd and the Egyptian Bloc coalition are some way behind them.

Egyptians voted in three phases over a six-week period to elect members of the People's Assembly, which has 498 seats. Ten further members are appointed by the military.

Two-thirds of the seats are allocated to party list candidates and the remaining third are voted for directly.

The overall results mean that Islamist parties control around two-thirds of the seats in the assembly, though the final share out of seats is not yet known.

The BBC reports the FJP will end up with between a third and a half of all MPs.

The Nour party is thought to have won nearly a quarter of the seats overall.

The new assembly is due to sit for the first time on Monday.