Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) ousted opposition leader Ayman Nour from parliament and took a strong early lead, according to first results from legislative elections announced on Thursday.
The election commission said Nour, leader of the liberal Ghad (Tomorrow) Party and Mubarak's main rival in presidential elections in September, lost in the Cairo constituency he has represented for the last 10 years.
Leading NDP figures, including parliament speaker Fathi Sorour, Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali and two other government ministers, held their seats in Wednesday's voting, it said.
The NDP won 31 of the first 35 seats decided and did well in many of the 66 seats where the top two candidates face a second round of voting next Tuesday.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which is fielding more than 100 candidates as independents across the country, won three seats, confirming the status of the Islamist organisation as the strongest opposition group. One other independent won a seat.
But the secular opposition, which came together to fight the dominance of the NDP, appeared to have fared badly.
The National Front for Political and Constitutional Change, an alliance grouping leftists, liberals and Arab nationalists, had won no seats and none of the recognised opposition parties will take part in run-offs for the 66 seats so far undecided.
Opposition groups and monitoring groups complained of widespread irregularities and many candidates are expected to prepare appeals again the results.
"Of course we can't say we are happy ... There were clear violations. There was vote buying and box swapping," said Mohamed Habib, deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Turnout was low by international standards, ranging from about 10 to 25 percent, with more people voting in rural areas.