Religious parties on the rise amid Mideast unrests

[rug]

2011-11-28 10:47:13

RABAT, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's PJD won parliamentary elections Friday, becoming the second moderate Islamist party after Tunisia's Ennahdha that seized power amid the region-wide unrest.

Grabbing 107 of the 395 seats in the legislature, the PJD, or the Party of Justice and Development, more than doubled the slots it captured in the 2007 election when it came in second with 46 seats behind the Istiqlal Party.

Early this year, the Middle East region saw widespread anti-government protests that led to the downfall of regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, as well as turmoil in Syria.

With the electoral victories of PJD and Ennahdha, some analysts said Islamists seemed to stand a real chance to enlarge its influence in the Middle East as people in the region are expecting change.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-11/28/c_131273960.htm