The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said in a statement that
it won 36 of the 56 seats awarded to individual candidates in voting which
concluded Tuesday.
The Islamist group already won almost 37 percent of the vote
in earlier polling, which awarded seats according to party lists.
The Brotherhood's political arm and other Islamist blocs
have so far dominated the first election since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in
February, with liberal parties trailing.
The ultraconservative Al-Nour Party has come in second after
the Muslim Brotherhood, winning nearly a quarter of the ballots cast in the
late November vote for party lists.
Al-Nour party spokesman Yousseri Hamed told The Associated
Press Wednesday that his group won at least five additional seats in runoffs.
Votes are still being counted.
Some Islamists, however, faced a tough battle in Cairo.
Candidate Mostafa Al-Naggar of the newly formed liberal Justice Party said he
won against a Muslim Brotherhood candidate in the run-off vote.
The Brotherhood meanwhile said that one of their candidates
had beaten a particularly controversial Al-Nour candidate, Abdel-Monem
El-Shahat, in the northern coastal city of Alexandria.
El-Shahat caused a stir during the run-up to the vote by
saying the novels of Egypt's Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, used widely in
Egyptian schools as textbooks, are "all prostitution."
Both the Muslim Brotherhood and various Salafi groups have
long offered social and medical services to millions of impoverished Egyptians,
winning them political backing. Most of the parties formed after the downfall
of Mubarak lack name recognition and thus have less clout, especially in rural
areas.
The voting for the 498-member elected Parliament is
staggered over three stages, with two-thirds of the country yet to cast
ballots.
Meanwhile, mmilitary rulers issued a decree Wednesday
handing presidential powers to Prime Minister Kamal Al-Ganzouri but kept
control of military affairs and the judiciary, the official news agency said.
The military, in charge since leader Hosni Mubarak was
overthrown in February in a popular uprising, has been under pressure to speed
a promised transition to civilian rule.
It appointed Al-Ganzouri after the former Cabinet resigned
last month during clashes between police and protesters demanding that the army
step aside. Al-Ganzouri said on Tuesday he expected to be granted broader
powers than his predecessor.
