The week began with hundreds of photos and stories covering the historic first votes in Egypt's 2011-12 parliamentary election with fanfare and pomp. And it's understandable for Americans to do this - we are freedom loving people who love witnessing people elect their own leaders for the first time.
But the unofficial results are scary and sadly vindicating for some of us who warned about the Hosni Mubarak overthrow and the impending islamist upheaval.
Here's the breakdown of results:
The bad news
The Muslim Brotherhood's "Freedom and Justice" Party received 40% of the vote in the liberal cities of Alexandria and Cairo, meaning 3.2 million people (out of the 8+ million who voted in stage one) stood with the organization responsible for the assassination of Anwar al-Sadat and gave them super-minority status.
The really bad news
The salafist Al Nour Party, which wants Egypt's constitution to strictly follow the tennants of Islam, received nearly 20% of the vote after only ten months of existance compared to the Brotherhood's 80 year run. This party trailed in the polls with just 10% before votes were cast - they came out of really nowhere to finish second.
The really, really bad news
This was just stage one of Egypt's parliamentary elections, and the other two are going to be held in the even more islamist countryside which will decide who represents the other 66% parliament. The islamists, at their current rate, could control well over 75% of Egypt's government in just one month from now.
What say you?
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