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Ah yes, it is slightly confusing.
Basically the Muslim Brotherhood have been banned as a political party. So they stand technically independent candidates in lieu and have made real gains in this election despite massive government fraud and prevention of voting.
It's further confused by the fact that the Egyptian elections take place in many rounds with only a certain number of seats decided in this one (and many reserved outright for the ruling National Democratic Party - which is of course not Democratic at all) - that's why the MB appear to do so badly despite winning the majority of the seats in this round.
Historically a gain like this is a huge step for the opposition movement in Egypt and represents a real upswelling of popular emotion against the dictatorship of Mubarak and his cronies, especially when you set it against the background of 18 years of rule by emergency powers.
I quite agree of course - the Muslim Brotherhood gaining power would be a terrifying prospect, but it is a democratic process happening before our eyes - it's not often you get to see power by the people expressed so clearly in the face of brutal repression. Another nice demonstration by Arabs and Muslims that they too can want democracy and to participate in it actively.
Of course, that's why Bush's entire Middle-East strategy always seemed a touch bizarre to me - democracy in the Middle-East was never going to produce governments that were naturally sympathetic towards us. Ah well, ours not to reason why [img]smile.gif[/img]
[ 12-02-2005, 08:51 PM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]
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