Congratulations to Amr Hamzawy, prominent liberal intellectual and a good friend, for winning his seat in Heliopolis as an independent in the first round of parliamentary elections.  And without so much as a runoff!  

It is comforting that sound ideas, hard work, and courage count for something with Egyptian voters.  As this hilarious graphic indicates, Amr will certainly have his work cut out for him in an assembly that promises to be well stocked with Islamists.

Michele Dunne is the director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and an official observer of the first stage of the parliamentary elections. She can be reached at mdunne@acus.org.

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