While there are still a few runoff contests to be conducted for seats in the lower house of Egypt's parliament, it seems clear that the Muslim Brotherhood and their Salafis allies will claim more than 2/3 of the seats with the Brotherhood alone gaining more than 40% of the races. Reuters: The Muslim Brotherhood said on Saturday it had won at least 41 percent of the seats in Egypt's lower house of parliament, with Islamists of various stripes occupying almost two thirds of the assembly so far. Banned under deposed President Hosni Mubarak, the Brotherhood has emerged as a major winner from the uprising that toppled him, exploiting a well-organized support base in the first free legislative vote in decades. It may be some weeks before the exact shape of the lower house is known because of various runoff votes. However, it is unlikely that their outcome will alter the dominance of the Islamists who now look set to wield major influence over the shape a new constitution to be drafted by a...(Read Full Post)