Egypt Senate Appoints Islamist as Speaker

Egypt's newly elected senate chose an Islamist as its speaker on Tuesday, extending the religious conservatives' power over the legislature tasked with appointing a panel to draft a new constitution.

Ahmed Fahmy of the dominant Islamist Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) was chosen to lead the 270-seat senate after Islamists won most of the 180 elected seats in the chamber. The ruling military will appoint the remaining senators.

Another party official, Saed al-Katatni, was voted speaker of parliament in January.

The powerful Muslim Brotherhood's FJP won a crushing victory in the lower house elections, contested over three months, to clinch 47 percent of seats.

Al-Nour, representing the ultra-conservative Salafist current of political Islam, came second, with liberal parties trailing far behind.

The two houses are scheduled to meet on March 3 to appoint a panel that will draft a new constitution, in place of the one suspended by the ruling generals after a popular revolt overthrew president Hosni Mubarak a year ago.