• 13:45
  • Wednesday ,01 December 2010
العربية

Egypt's ruling party heading for solid win

By-EG

Home News

00:12

Wednesday ,01 December 2010

Egypt's ruling party heading for solid win

CAIRO (Updated) - Heavyweights in the ruling National Democratic Party on Monday were declared winners in the legislative elections, the most acrimonious in the nation's parliamentary history.

Ministers of oil, finance, irrigation, social solidarity, international co-operation, parliamentary affairs, local development and military production defeated their rivals from opposition parties, the banned Muslim Brotherhood and independents.

    They were all eight Cabinet ministers fielded by the party among 770 candidates in Sunday's elections.

     The ruling party, which has been in power for more than three decades, is expected to score a landslide victory when the final results are announced on Wednesday.

      Fat'hi Sorour, the veteran speaker of the outgoing parliament, was also declared winner in Syeda Zainab in Islamic Cairo, a seat he has been keeping for almost two decades. Zakaria Azami, the chief of the presidential staff, also won. Both politicians are stalwart members of Mubarak's party.

      No candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's influential-yet-banned opposition force, has emerged winner, after more than 50 per cent of the votes were counted.

      Seven contenders from Al Wafd, Egypt's oldest liberal party, were officially declared winners. Opposition and local monitors have reported irregularities in the election, which left seven dead, two of them of health problems, according to Egyptian officials