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How successful was the Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt’s 2011–12 parliamentary elections?

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Founder of the Muslim Brotherood — Muslim Brotherhood Hassan al-Banna, a schoolteacher in Ismailia, Egypt, founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 as an attempt to modernize Islamic society.

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), established by the Muslim Brotherhood in April 2011, was highly successful in Egypt’s 2011–12 parliamentary elections. During the elections, which took place between November 2011 and January 2012, the FJP emerged as the dominant political faction, as no other group could compete with its level of organization.1

Ultimately, the Freedom and Justice Party won approximately 47 percent of the seats in the lower house of the Egyptian parliament, the People’s Assembly. This commanding lead, combined with the success of the ultraconservative Nūr Party—which secured about 25 to 30 percent of the seats—allowed Islamists to dominate the selection process for the Constituent Assembly, the body responsible for drafting a new constitution.12