In Egypt's parliamentary elections, held Nov. 28 and Dec. 5, the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) won an overwhelming majority of seats. That victory was ordained when the two main opposition parties boycotted the second round of voting after alleging fraud in the first ballot. The results clear the way for President Hosni Mubarak to claim another term in office in elections next year.
The final tally shows the NDP winning 420 seats or 83 percent of the 508 seats in the Egyptian Parliament. Opposition parties took 14 seats and independents 70 seats. (Results for four seats are still outstanding.)
While the NDP's victory was inevitable, its scale was magnified by the decision of the Muslim Brotherhood and Wafd, the two leading opposition parties, to withdraw from the runoff after the NDP won 209 of 211 seats in the first round of voting. (Some Wafd members defied the boycott and ran as independents in the runoff.) The Muslim Brotherhood had held 88 seats in the previous Parliament.