The Muslim Brotherhood is claiming victory in Egypt’s parliamentary election with nearly 40% of the vote, the radical Islamist Nour party not far behind. But according to Middle East blogger Karl Sharro, an Islamist-led government is doomed to fail.
Everyone anticipated a big win for the Muslim Brotherhood, Sharro told RT, pointing out that the election results are to a large extent indicative of the political situation in the last year, or even before the uprisings. “What you have here are Islamist parties that are benefiting from those big changes because they’ve had the experience and organization, so that’s not to say that's a long-term political advantage that they would always have. The results that the Nour Party have specifically achieved in Egypt, were a bit of a surprise.”What should be watched, according to the analyst, is “this inability of more secular elements in the Egyptian uprising of talking to the people, kind of galvanizing them and raising their support at the election.” Sharro believes the Arab world of the future will be a combination of “socially conservative politics” to appease the broad support the Islamists enjoy, with more liberal economic policies. “But I have doubts about the ability of Islamist parties across the board to govern, and I think it is a position shared by them as well, and they will try as much as possible to form alliances with other groups and bring in more people, and we will likely see wider coalitions taking power both in Egypt and other countries,” Sharro told RT.The Muslim Brotherhood – the nation’s largest and best-organized political group – and the ultraconservative Islamic Salafis, have dominated the first two rounds of votes held since November, together gaining about 70 percent of the vote. The elections have enjoyed a large turnout, and final results amassing all three rounds are due to be announced January 13.