Egypt: MB Claims Victory in Polls; Ganzouri Names Cabinet

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said on Wednesday that they won a majority of seats in the run-off elections, with Salafis coming in second. One source told Reuters that the FJP secured 39 individual seats out of 45 it contested. While official results are announced on Thursday, some suggest that many secular moderates backed the Muslim Brotherhood to block the hard line Salafiis.

As Egypt’s ruling military leaders granted Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri presidential powers, Ganzouri named a new cabinet on Wednesday. Mohammed Ibrahim Yusuf, former Cairo police chief, was appointed as the minister of interior,  Mumtaz al-Said as finance minister, and Mohammed Kamel Amr was reappointed as the foreign minister.

Meanwhile, an Egyptian court denied an appeal for a new judge in the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak faces a range of charges including involvement in killing protesters as the court did not explain why it rejected the appeal. Lawyers representing the families of protesters killed during the uprising filed a suit calling for the presiding judge Ahmed Refaat to be replaced.