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Islamist parties captured an overwhelming majority of votes in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections, setting up a power struggle with the much weaker liberals behind the uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, 10 months ago.
The Nour Party, made a strong showing with nearly a quarter of the ballots, according to results released on Sunday.
The tallies offered only a partial indication of how the new parliament will look. There are still two more rounds of voting in 18 of the country's 27 provinces over the coming month and runoff elections on Monday and Tuesday to determine almost all of the seats allocated for individuals in the first round.
But the influence of the Islamists over the next parliament appears set, particularly considering their popularity in provinces voting in the next rounds.
The High Election Commission said the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party garnered 36.6 per cent of the 9.7 million valid ballots cast for party lists. The Nour Party captured 24.4 per cent.
On Saturday, Kamal al-Ganzouri, the military-appointed prime minister, announced that he would pick a new cabinet on Wednesday.
Ganzouri was chosen by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) after the previous military-approved interim government resigned following a bloody crackdown on protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
The new parliament will be tasked, in theory, with selecting a 100-member panel to draft the new constitution. But adding to tensions, the ruling military council that took over from Mubarak has suggested it will choose 80 of those members, and said parliament will have no say in naming a new government.
The Brotherhood has emerged as the most organized and cohesive political force in these elections.
The elections, which began November 28, were deemed as the freest and fairest in Egypt's modern history. Turnout of around 60 per cent was the highest in living memory as few participated in the heavily rigged votes under Mubarak.
The ballots are a confusing mix of individual races and party lists, and the Sunday results only reflect the party list performance for less than a third of the 498-seat parliament.
Another liberal list, the Wafd Party, received 7.1 per cent, while the moderate Islamist Wasat or Centrist Party took 4.3 per cent. The final shape of the parliament will not be announced before January.
PHOTO CAPTION
Member of Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party use their laptop computers outside a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011.
Al-Jazeera
