Muslim Brotherhood leads Egypt voting, Salafists in 2nd place

From Al Masry al Youm:

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is leading parliamentary polls across Egypt, according to early estimates Wednesday.

Egyptians cast their ballots Monday and Tuesday in the first round of parliamentary elections, held in nine governorates. Elections will continue over several phases into January.

With the backing of the Muslim Brotherhood and its ability to organize and mobilize supporters, many expected the FJP to dominate the polls.

In Luxor, where about 80 percent of ballots have been counted, FJP appears to lead the vote, closely followed by the Salafi Nour Party. The liberal Egyptian Bloc and moderate Wasat Party won far fewer votes in that governorate.

In Port Said, 70 percent of the votes have been counted... For the list-based candidacy seats, indicators show that the FJP leads, followed by the Nour, Free Egyptian and Wasat parties.

In Cairo's eighth constituency, which includes Dar al-Salam, Misr al-Qadeema, Sayeda Zeinab, Khalifa and Moqattam, ... The Salafi Nour Party and FJP lead the party list vote, with the Egyptian Bloc and Wafd trailing behind.

In Helwan, FJP leads for list-based candidacy seats while the Nour Party and the Egyptian Bloc and the Conservative Party are competing for second place.

In Assiut's first constituency, where 70 percent of votes have been counted, FJP leads, followed by Nour Party and the Egyptian Bloc. In the second constituency, FJP leads, followed by the Conservative Party....

In the Red Sea Governorate, FJP tops the polls, followed by the Egyptian Bloc and the Egyptian Citizen Party.

In Kafr al-Sheikh, Nour Party appears to lead the first constituency, followed by FJP and then the Wafd Party. In the second constituency, FJP leads, followed by Nour and then Egypt National and Wafd parties.

If the Muslim Brotherhood is correct in their claim that their FJP party is receiving some 40% of the vote, then it is possible that they would not need to rely on any secular parties to create a ruling coalition - the even more hard-line Salafists would seem to have enough votes to put them over 50%.

They are very keen on appearing moderate, so this might not be their first choice, but it is now a serious possibility, especially if the Salafists manage to get 15-20% - enough to make an unbreakable coalition.