State radio declared the general election a "splendid pageant of democracy", yet the voting, staggered over three rounds and five weeks, was marked by fraud, bribery and thuggery that left at least 11 people dead. On paper, Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party (ndp) won a big enough majority to go on rubber-stamping laws, as it has since President Hosni Mubarak took office 24 years ago. But the election's other effects are far more telling.
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