Two biggest challengers withdraw CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party has swept to a predictable huge parliamentary win, state media reported Monday, after an election boycotted by Islamists who were crushed in a vote they said was rigged. The Muslim Brotherhood, which controlled a fifth of seats in the outgoing parliament, quit the race after winning no seats in the Nov. 28 first round. The second biggest opposition group in the last parliament, the liberal Wafd party, also withdrew. The opposition and independent monitors cited ballot box stuffing, voter intimidation and other abuses in both rounds. Sunday's run-offs passed off more quietly, with some of the toughest races in seats where only the ruling party competed. Officials said voting in both rounds was fair and complaints would be checked but did not undermine the overall vote. Analysts said the government wanted to rid parliament of its main critics to ensure a trouble-free presidential vote in 2011. A question mark hangs over Egypt's future leadership because President Hosni Mubarak, 82, has not said if he will seek re-election and has no obvious successor. The leftist Tagammu party was set to be the biggest opposition bloc in the new 518-seat parliament with just five seats. Party official Abdel Kareem Kassem said Tagammu won four seats in Sunday's run-offs, adding to a seat it won on Nov. 28. Some Tagammu had pressed its leadership to join the boycott. After the run-offs, the ruling National Democratic Party won 419 of 508 seats, the electoral commission said, giving its final results after two rounds of voting. Trailing far behind Mubarak's NDP were the opposition with 15 seats, after most boycotted the polls, while independents garnered 70, according to figures released to the media. Although banned by a rule that outlaws religious parties, the Brotherhood fields candidates as independents. It said no candidates ran in the run-offs although 26 made it through. Despite a boycott, the state-run al-Ahram newspaper announced one Brotherhood-backed candidate in a Cairo district, Magdy Ashour, as the winner. The Brotherhood denied he was standing, although he was one of the 26 who reached a run
