Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) took an early lead in the first stage of legislative elections this week but a second round of voting will be needed to decide most seats, the justice minister said on Friday. Mahmoud Aboul Leil said the NDP had won 26 of 164 seats contested on Wednesday. Independent candidates won five seats, he said, reading final results of the poll to reporters. Four of those elected as independents were candidates fielded by the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group said on Friday, underlining its status as the strongest opposition to the NDP, Reuters said. Turnout was 24.9 percent, Aboul Leil told reporters. NDP winners included Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali and Parliament Speaker Fathi Sorour. Ayman Nour, head of the opposition Ghad party, lost his Cairo seat to the NDP. Nour came a distant second to President Hosni Mubarak, head of the NDP, in Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election in September. --More 2251 Local Time 1951 GMT
