Egyptians Vote in Final Round of Parliamentary Elections

Egyptians started voting in the final phase of the People's Assembly (the lower house of parliament) polls on Tuesday, the first parliamentary elections since the fall of ex-president Hosni Mubarak in February last year. Polling stations opened in nine governorates, namely Minya, Qalyubiya, Gharbiya, Daqahliya, North Sinai, South Sinai, New Valley, Matruh, and Qena. The voting ended at 7 p.m. (1700GMT) but will resume on Jan 4 2012 for a second day. The number of eligible voters is 14.4 million in the stage. They will select 150 lawmakers, including 100 from party lists and 50 from independents. The run-off of the final phase will be held on Jan. 10 and 11. Photo courtesy of XINHUA --NNN

As voters in rural areas of Egypt go to the polls in the third and final phase of elections that have so far been dominated by Islamist parties, the Muslim Brotherhood says it intends to form a unity government,

Egyptian Election Process Under guidelines established by Egypt's interim military rulers, the elections for the People's Assembly (lower house of parliament) begin on the 28th. The election process for the lower house will take place in three stages in different administrative districts in December and January. Each district will have two days of voting. Elections for the Shura, the upper house, begin on January 29 and will end in March. The newly elected assembly will then write a new constitution. The ruling military council says a presidential election will be held before July 2012. The voting will pave the way for Egypt's transfer to civilian rule.

Voting continued for a second day Wednesday in nine provinces, including al-Gharbiya, North Sinai and South Sinai, the last areas to hold polls in the elections that began in late November. The areas include historic Brotherhood strongholds, where a number of the group's best-known candidates are running.

The Brotherhood looked to possibly win an outright majority instead of the plurality indicated by previous results.  It has in the past sought to ally itself with secular liberal groups instead of the ultra-conservative Salafists.

Their triumph has come at the expense of liberal parties and youth groups behind the popular uprising that forced former president Hosni Mubarak from power nearly a year ago.

At the same time, the country's military rulers have been waging an increasingly violent crackdown on protesters. Last week, soldiers raided 10 pro-democracy and election monitoring organizations, including three U.S. groups.

On Tuesday, the State Department stepped up its criticism, calling the harassment "unacceptable." Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Mubarak government "holdovers" were making the most strident statements against the NGOs.

Also Tuesday, the chief prosecutor in Mubarak's trial held opening arguments, calling him a "tyrannical leader" who sought to hand power to friends and relatives.

The former president is charged with corruption and involvement in the deaths of hundreds of anti-government protesters during last year's uprising.

Mubarak, 83, faces the death penalty if convicted of murder. He has pleaded not guilty. His two sons, the former interior minister and senior police officers are co-defendants.

Mubarak's trial restarted last week after a more than three-month suspension, while the court considered a request to have the judges replaced.

Egypt's military rulers said Sunday that the election process will be sped up following clashes in Cairo. Protesters have called for a quicker transition to civilian rule.

Voting for parliament's upper house is now set to end February 22 with the full house holding its first meeting February 28, nearly a month earlier than previously expected.

The parliament will write a new constitution, and the ruling military council has promised to hand power to an elected president by July. ---VOA News