Cairo: Partial results released by Egypt's elections officials for the first round of parliamentary voting show two Islamist groups leading with over 60 per cent of total cast for party lists.
The results released by the High Election Commission Sunday on showed the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice party leading with 36.6 per cent of the valid ballots cast, with the ultraconservative Nour party closely trailing with 24.3 per cent.
The results indicate that the liberal Egyptian Bloc garnered 13.3 per cent of the votes in the country's first elections after President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in February.
Bracing for a run-off
Around 104 single contenders, mainly Islamists and liberals, are vying on Monday for 52 seats in a run-off vote in Egypt's parliamentary elections.
Only four out of 56 seats allocated for single candidates in the first leg of the three-stage elections have already been won.
The contenders in Monday's run-off, while running as individuals, mainly belong to the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, the ultra-conservative Islamist Al Nour Party, and the Egyptian Bloc, an alliance of liberal and leftist groups.
The two Islamist-orientated parties, Freedom and Justice and Al Nour, emerged as the big winners in the first round, securing 40 per cent and 20 per cent respectively of the 168 seats up for grabs.
The Egyptian Bloc, meanwhile, trailed third with 15 per cent. Al Wafd, Egypt's oldest party, garnered a meager 11 per cent. The parliamentary elections, Egypt's first since former president Hosni Mubarak was unseated, are based on a mixed system of party list and single candidacy.
The second and third stages of the vote are scheduled for December 14 and January 3. Full results are due to be announced on January 13.
With input from agencies
