another election surprise: Alexandria

This comes from Ahram Online:

“In Egypt’s second capital, founded over two millennia ago by Alexander the Great, Sabbahi got a whopping 34.2 per cent of the vote, followed by Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh at 22 per cent, with moderate candidate Amr Moussa running third at 16.5 per cent. Alexandria, long perceived as a major Muslim Brotherhood/Salafist hotbed gave the Brotherhood’s Mursi a mere 15.3 per cent, placing him in fourth place.”

Yes, it was always my impression as well that Alexandria was regarded as an Islamist hotbed. Looks like that probably wasn’t the case after all. And notice that Shafik also shows up nowhere on the Alexandria voting radar.

Sabbahi won Cairo, Alexandria, and Port Said, making him the urban candidate of choice.