Results so far show that the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) leads in this week's run-offs for the first phase of the parliamentary elections, judges overseeing the elections have said. Results announced early this morning indicate the FJP has won 22 of the 52 seats contested in the run-offs, but judicial sources said vote counting is still ongoing in six constituencies in Kafr al-Sheikh, Fayoum and Assiut. Abdel Moez Ibrahim, the head of the High Elections Commission (HEC), is expected to announce the final results at a press conference on Thursday. On its official Facebook page, the FJP said it won 34 seats in the run-offs, but was probably including independent candidates to whom it has lent support. The run-offs were conducted in nine governorates: Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Assiut, Luxor, Fayoum, Damietta, Kafr al-Sheikh and the Red Sea. In the Cairo district of Nasr City the FJP lost to two young revolutionaries, namely Mostafa al-Naggar and Amr Ouda, while Mohamed Abu Hamed from the Egyptian Bloc won the professional seat in Cairo's sixth constituency. The Revolution Continues Coalition won the workers' seat in the second constituency in Damietta, according to state news agency MENA. Another surprising outcome was the defeat of Brotherhood candidate Hamdy Hassan to the Salafi-led Nour Party inAlexandria's Mina al-Bassal constituency. Also in Alexandria, Mahmoud al-Khodeiry, who has the support of the Brotherhood, won the professional seat in the Raml constituency following fierce competition with former parliamentarian and National Democratic Party (NDP) member Tareq Talaat Mostafa. Another former NDP parliamentarian, Haidar Baghdady, also suffered a heavy defeat in Cairo's Gammaleya constituency. Salafi leader Abdel Monem al-Shahhat lost the professional seat in the Montaza district to FJP-supported candidate Hosny Doweidar. This result brought relief to revolutionary youth and several political parties who were disturbed by Shahhat's recent hardline statements. Translated from the Arabic Edition
