Islamists get 75 pc seats in Egypt polls

The Brotherhoods Freedom and Justice Party has promised that all Egyptians will have a voice in the new parliament,but Islamists are now set to wield major influence over a new constitution to be drafted by a 100-strong body that parliament will help pick. The FJP named Saad al-Katatni,a leading Brotherhood official who sat in the old parliament as an independent,as speaker of the assembly.

Under a complex electoral system,two-thirds or 332 of the seats in lower house are decided by proportional representation on closed party lists. The other third is contested by individual candidates.

According to final results of the staggered election issued by the High Elections Committee on Saturday,the Brotherhoods electoral alliance took a 38 per cent share of the seats allocated to lists.

The hardline Islamist Al-Nour Party won 29 per cent of list seats. The liberal New Wafd and Egyptian Bloc coalition came third and fourth respectively.

The Revolution Continues coalition,dominated by youth groups at the forefront of the protests that toppled Mubarak,attracted less than a million votes and took just seven of the 498 seats up for grabs in the lower house.