Muslim Bros. takes one seat in Egypt

CAIRO, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A Muslim Brotherhood candidate took one seat in a runoff vote in Egypt, though the ruling party claimed a sweeping victory in parliamentary elections.

The Muslim Brotherhood said after it failed to secure any seats in the first round of voting last week that it was pulling out of the race in order to highlight repression in the Egyptian political scene.

Washington reacted with concern after accounts of ballot-stuffing and violence at several polling stations.

The ruling National Democratic Party won the most seats in a second round of weekend voting, saying it took 90 percent of the 518 seats at stake, Egyptian daily newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reports.

The leftist Tagammu Party took about 1 percent of the seats, making it the largest opposition party represented in the Egyptian Parliament. A candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood won during the weekend despite the decision to pull out of the race.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition party, is banned from politics, though it fields its candidates as independents. Those candidates took 20 percent of the seats in Parliament in 2005 elections.

The group had ignored earlier calls for a blanket boycott, saying it had a better chance of spurring political reform if it took part in the process.