Image by getty images

Our Vote Counted: Egyptians celebrate after voting in first free elections in decades. The Muslim Brotherhood leads in early results. Image by getty images

The Muslim Brotherhood party appeared to be leading Egypt’s elections on Wednesday after 90 percent of the votes in a number of cities and provinces have been counted, according to Al Jazeera.

Egypt’s Al Nour party, considered a radical Islamic party, appeared to be in second place behind the Muslim Brotherhood, and the centrist party is only in third place, according to Al Jazeera.

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The results show that the Muslim Brotherhood have become the strongest political force in the country since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, although it is still too early to announce whether they will enjoy the solid victory that has been expected, or whether they will see even greater success at the polls, as there are still votes to be counted, and this is only the first stage of Egypt’s three-part elections.

The figures released by the judges responsible for the ballot boxes reveal that the Muslim Brotherhood have a clear majority among voters in Egypt’s capital Cairo, in Luxor, Port Said, and in the area of the Suez Canal.

The elections for 498 seats in the lower house of the Egyptian parliament, will be voted on in three stages, each lasting two days, with the final stage taking place in January.

The first stage of elections saw high voter turnout and finished with relative calm on Tuesday, when many people came out to vote for the first time in their lives.

Nadin Halled, a volunteer for one of the candidates near a voting booth in Cairo’s Zamalek Quarter told Haaretz: “50% of the early voters had come the day before. I guess those who have showed up think the army will determine the elections results anyway or just prefer to enjoy their day off.”

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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