Cairo, Dec 24: Egyptian Islamist parties, including the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) of the popular Muslim Brotherhood, dominated the runoff for the second round of the three-stage Parliamentary elections to put in place a civilian leadership following the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak.
 The FJP won 38 of the 59 seats, the radical Salafists Nour Party 13, while independent candidates bagged five seats in the runoff, the Supreme Elections Commission (SEC) was quoted as saying by the Al-Ahram online, the website of the official newspaper.
 The  FJP, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, bagged the highest number of professional and worker seats, with 38 of its 49 candidates winning in the run-off held in nine governorates last Wednesday and Thursday.  The Nour Party gained 13 seats and independents five.
 Abdel Moez Ibrahim, the head of the Supreme Elections Committee, will announce the final results for the whole second round later today, the report said.
 The ruling military council has put in place a complex election system in which voters cast ballots for party lists, which will comprise two thirds of parliament, and also for individual candidates for the remaining third of the lower house. Most individual races go into runoffs.
 Islamists have dominated the polls, which began on November 28, the first since Mubarak was ousted in a 18-day uprising in February.
 The second round began on December 14, and the third is due to start on January 3.
 Amid mounting protests to give up power, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has underlined that it will transfer power after a presidential election is held by the end of June next year.
 At least 17 people have been killed in a week of clashes between Egyptian security forces and anti-military protesters.
 Some 100 people have been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces and in sectarian violence since the military took power in February after the ouster of Mubarak.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:00:00 IST