Ruling party wins Egypt run-offs

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Electoral authorities in Egypt say the governing National Democratic Party has won all but two of 16 upper house seats in run-off elections.

The other two seats went to independent candidates allied with the NDP.

Last week's first round of voting gave the NDP a commanding majority in the 88-seat Shura consultative council.

No candidates from the main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, fought in the second round, after they failed to win any seats outright in the first.

The group, which is illegal in Egypt, fields candidates standing as independents.

Only candidates who took at least 50% of the vote in the first round won their seats outright.

Run-offs were held to decide other seats.

Fraud accusation

The final result was 84 seats to NDP candidates, three to independents and one to the leftist Tagammu Party.

There were unconfirmed reports of violence and ballot stuffing on behalf of an NDP candidate in the Nile Delta province of Minoufiya.

There are 264 seats in the upper house, which has very limited legislative powers; 176 are elected in two tranches, and 88 appointed by the president.

These are the first elections to be held in Egypt after changes to the constitution aimed in part, correspondents say, at limiting the electoral chances of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The constitution has been changed to ban political activity based on religion and to weaken judicial supervision of elections.

Two major opposition parties boycotted the elections: al-Wafd and the Nasserite Arab Democratic Party.

In the 2005 lower house elections, which took place under strong US pressure for democratic reform, Muslim Brotherhood supporters won nearly a fifth of seats, shaking the NPD establishment.