CAIRO - Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party has secured most seats in a midterm election for parliament's upper house after a vote marred by irregularities, a preliminary report said Wednesday.
The outlawed opposition Muslim Brotherhood which fielded 19 candidates as independents, failed to win any seats, the state-run Al-Gomhuria daily said.
The Shura council is made up of 264 members of whom 176 are directly elected and 88 are appointed by the president. Membership is rotating, with one half of the council renewed every three years.
NDP Secretary General Safwat al-Sherif said "most" of the 77 contested seats went to his party, with 11 already secured because they were uncontested.
Official figures are expected to be announced later Wednesday, with the second round of voting to take place on Monday.
The first round of voting on Monday was marred by violence which left one person dead amid a massive crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood members and reports of irregularities.
Ahmed Abdel Salam Ghanem was killed when he was caught in the crossfire as supporters of the NDP candidate and an independent rival clashed in the Nile Delta town of Husseiniya.
Independent observers reported a series of irregularities, including the closure of polling stations where Islamist candidates were running, the banning of observers from monitoring the process as well as violence.
The Muslim Brotherhood, in a statement, described the election as a "setback for reform."
"These elections have been held under clouded political and media atmospheres and amid the illegal tricks by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)," the group said on its website, adding that it plans to challenge the results by legal means.
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