20101206
africanews

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's party won 419 of 508 seats in parliamentary polls, the electoral commission said Monday after most of the opposition boycotted the polls. Monitors had previously charged that the polling, which ended with a second round on Sunday, was marked by widespread fraud

Egypt's main opposition groups, the Muslim Brotherhood and liberal Wafd party, had refused to take part in Sunday's runoff after the ruling National Democratic Party swept 209 out of 211 seats in the first round of voting on 28 November.

Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif insisted on Monday that there had been "no interference" by the police or authorities in the polling.

His government has dismissed the fraud charges, acknowledging only minor irregularities without any impact on the results, and the NDP accuses the opposition of engineering its own ouster through its decision to boycott.

But the Independent Coalition for Elections' Observation said widespread violations, including violence and fraud, had marred both rounds, raising serious questions over the legitimacy of the new parliament.

Sunday's runoff saw NDP candidates run mostly against members of the same party.