CAIRO: Islamic parties in Egypt claimed on Sunday that they had taken the lion's share of votes in the second round of parliamentary elections. Both the Salafist al-Nour Party and the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said separately that they had secured approximately 75 percent of votes during the second round of voting. Both parties did extremely well in the first round of voting, with the FJP winning some 40 percent and the ultra-conservative al-Nour winning around 20 percent. According to al-Nour in a statement issued by its press office, the party “received about 35 percent of votes” for its lists in the second round of balloting. The FJP claimed it would win approximately the same percentage of votes, 40 percent, for its lists, and based the results on its own tracking. The military junta in power, and currently battling protesters in downtown Cairo, has yet to issue an official result. Protests in Cairo have already left at least 13 people dead and over 700 injured in four days of clashes after the military attacked a peaceful sit-in at the Cabinet building on Friday early morning, which galvanized activists to take to the streets. The result saw the military, police and protesters exchange stone throwing, and the military has reportedly used live ammunition against the protesters in an effort to end the violence. The third round of voting is scheduled for early January. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/NfmXV Tags: Elections, FJP, Islamists, Nour, Voting Section: Egypt, Latest News
