On edge

5 December 2011 By Una Galani Follow @ugalani

An Islamist-led parliament is set to replace a failed authoritarian secular one. Economic necessity should keep extremism at bay. But the Muslim Brotherhood’s long-term agenda, and the surprise success of ultra-conservative Salafis, will put investors on edge.

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Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has called on its rivals to accept the will of the people after a first-round vote set its party on course to take the most seats in the country’s first freely elected parliament in six decades.
Figures released by the election committee and published by state media show a list led by the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party secured 36.6 percent of party-list votes. The Salafi al-Nour Party received 24.4 percent support, and the liberal Egyptian Bloc 13.4 percent.
Egyptians return to the polls on Monday for run-off votes from the first round of their parliamentary elections.
The final outcome of Egypt’s parliamentary election will not be known until other parts of the country vote in two more rounds, a process that will not be complete until Jan. 11.
(An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to June 2011 in paragraph 4)

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