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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By Staff, Associated Press
December 2, 2011
CAIRO (AP) — A spokesman says an ultraconservative Islamist party plans to
push for a stricter religious code in Egypt after claiming surprisingly
strong gains in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections.
Final results are to be announced later Friday, but preliminary counts have
been leaked by judges and individual political groups.
Spokesman Yousseri Hamad says the Salafi Nour party expects to get 30
percent of the vote. That would put it in a strong position to influence
policy, although it's unclear how much power the new parliament will have
with the military that took over from ousted Hosni Mubarak still in power.
Salafis advocate a strict interpretation of Islam that includes a staunch
segregation of the sexes and constraints on individuals' freedoms.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP'
s earlier story is below.
CAIRO (AP) — Islamists appear to have taken a strong majority of seats in
the first round of Egypt's first parliamentary vote since Hosni Mubarak's
ouster, a trend that if confirmed would give religious parties a popular
mandate in the struggle to win control from the ruling military and
ultimately reshape a key U.S. ally.
Final results, expected Friday, will be the clearest indication in decades
of Egyptians' true political views and give the long-banned Muslim
Brotherhood a major role in the country's first freely elected parliament.
An Islamist majority could also herald a greater role for conservative Islam
in Egyptian social life and shifts in foreign policy, especially toward
Israel and the Palestinians.
The showing in Egypt — long considered a linchpin of regional stability —
would be the clearest signal yet that parties and candidates connected to
political Islam will emerge as the main beneficiaries of this year's Arab
Spring uprisings.
Tunisia and Morocco have both elected Islamist majorities to parliament, and
while Libya has yet to announce dates for its first elections, Islamist
groups have emerged as a strong force there since rebels overthrew Moammar
Gadhafi in August. They also play a strong opposition role in Yemen.
Judges overseeing the Egyptian vote count said Thursday that near-complete
results show the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest and best
organized political group, could take as many as 45 percent of the contested
seats.
In addition to the Muslim Brotherhood wins, parties backed by
ultraconservative Salafist Muslims looked poised to take 20 percent, giving
Islamist parties a striking majority in the first round of voting in key
districts, including Cairo and Alexandria.
Similar results in the remaining rounds would give Islamist parties a
majority in parliament, which many believe they will use to steer the long-
secular U.S. ally in a more religiously conservative direction.
The Islamist victories came at the expense of a coalition of liberal parties
called the Egyptian block, the group most closely linked to the youth
activists who launched the anti-Mubarak uprising — and which is expected to
win only about 20 percent of seats.
In Egypt, the Brotherhood was officially banned and suppressed for decades,
but built a nationwide network of activists who focused on providing
services to the poor. After Mubarak's fall, the group campaigned as the
Freedom and Justice Party, their organization and the Brotherhood's name-
recognition giving them a big advantage over newly formed liberal parties.
The election also provided an opening for the Salafist Muslims whose strict
Islamic practice is similar to that in Saudi Arabia. While the Muslim
Brotherhood has said it will preserve individual rights, Salafi groups are
not shy about their ambition to turn Egypt into a state where women must
dress modestly and TV content deemed offensive will be banned.
The Brotherhood's leadership has so far avoided defining the ruling
coalition it will seek to build. And during the campaign, it often avoided
strict Islamist rhetoric in favor of more inclusive messages about social
equality and clean government.
Critics, however, worry that once in power, the group will band together
with its Islamist allies to impose stricter social codes. Many in Egypt's
Coptic Christian minority fear they'll face new restrictions on building
churches.
The Obama administration has lauded the elections, saying it will cooperate
with the victors, no matter what their persuasion.
Israel, which has long considered its peace treaty with Egypt a buffer
against regional war, worries Islamists will be less cooperative than
Mubarak was. Israel is highly unpopular in most of Egyptian society, and
Brotherhood leaders have suggested they'll review Egypt's relationship with
the Jewish state. They may also deepen ties to Hamas, the militant group
that rules the Gaza Strip.
This week's vote, held in seven provinces, will determine about 30 percent
of the 498 seats in the People's Assembly, parliament's lower house. Two
more rounds, ending in January, will cover Egypt's other 20 provinces. Three
more rounds lasting until March will elect the less powerful upper house.
Egypt's election commission said that unexpectedly large voter turnout in
the first round had slowed the count and that results, initially expected
Thursday, would be announced Friday.
Participation figures have not been released, but Maj. Gen. Ismail Etman of
the ruling military council estimated that 70 percent of eligible people
voted.
The power the new legislature will have remains unclear.
Several members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took
control of the country when Mubarak fell, have said the new parliament will
not appoint the prime minister or have power to dismiss the Cabinet. The
military has also said it will appoint 80 of the 100-member panel charged
with drafting a new constitution.
The Brotherhood is expected to challenge the army on these issues, and a
strong showing in the elections will boost its mandate to do so. The group's
leaders have already said they will form a coalition government that will
choose its own prime minister.
The military has other plans. Last week, military council head Hussein
Tantawi appointed a Mubarak-era prime minister to head a new government.
Kamal el-Ganzouri is expected to announce its members Saturday.
His government will not likely serve for more than a few months, and groups
pushing for a faster transition to civilian rule consider it a mere front
for continued military rule.
The trial of some 12,000 civilians before military courts this year has
soured many on the military, and an attempt to clear the square of a sit-in
by families of those killed by security forces two weeks ago sparked days of
clashes in which some 40 more were killed.
This week's large voter turnout, however, could undermine the call for
renewed protest more than any military statement, as many Egyptians seem to
have placed their hopes in the political process.
Some youth leaders acknowledged this.
"The revolution has partially ended with the holding of the elections," said
Ahmed Imam, a youth leader in the anti-Mubarak uprising. "The conflict now
will not be between Tahrir and the military, but between the military and
the next parliament. This will steal the spotlight from our revolutionary
struggle." |
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