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Egypt's Islamists sweep upper house vote, final results show

Arab World Materials 26 February 2012 17:34 (UTC +04:00)
Islamists parties have gained more than 80 per cent of the seats for which elections were held in Egypt's largely advisory upper house of parliament, the Shura Council, final results showed Sunday, dpa reported.
Egypt's Islamists sweep upper house vote, final results show

Islamists parties have gained more than 80 per cent of the seats for which elections were held in Egypt's largely advisory upper house of parliament, the Shura Council, final results showed Sunday, dpa reported.

The influential Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has been awarded 105 of the 180 seats that were up for grabs after gaining 58.3 per cent of the vote in a recent two-round election, reported the semi-official newspaper Al-Akhbar, citing an election commission.

The Salafist radical Al Nour Party came second with 45 seats, while Al-Wafd, Egypt's oldest liberal party, trailed in third with just 14 seats.

Islamists already hold more than two thirds of the seats in the lower house of parliament, the People's Assembly.

The Shura Council has limited powers and is composed of a total of 270 members. Two-thirds of its lawmakers are directly elected, while the remaining third are appointed by the head of the state.

The newly-elected body is due to hold its inaugural session on Tuesday, when it will appoint a chairman and two deputies.

Both houses of parliament are to jointly select a panel tasked with drafting a new constitution for Egypt.

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