Egypt ruling party secures majority in house elections

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party has won a majority of seats in a midterm election for parliament's upper house, the Higher Election Committee said, in a vote marred by irregularities.

President Hosni Mubarak's NDP party won 71 of the 88 contested seats, with 17 seats up for grabs in a second round to be held on June 18, HEC president Adel Andraus said in a statement late Wednesday.

Voter turnout was 31 percent, Andraus said.

The opposition Muslim Brotherhood failed to win any seats in Monday's vote amid violence that left one person dead amid a massive crackdown on members of the Islamist group.

Independent observers reported a series of irregularities, including the closure of polling stations where Islamist candidates were...