Egyptians elect their parliament again while army drafts rules for presidential vote

Egyptians were headed to the polls again on Thursday in a phased election to choose the first post-revolution parliament, as liberals faced an uphill battle to compete with Islamist parties.

Ten months after a popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule, the country’s new political landscape looks set to be dominated by Islamist parties which clinched two thirds of the votes in the opening stage of the election.

Polling stations are due to open at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) in a third of the country’s 27 provinces.

Three ballots

Voters are required to cast three ballots: two for individual candidates and one for a party or coalition, in the assembly’s 498 seats. The ruling military council which took power when Mubarak was ousted in February will nominate a further 10 deputies.

The second round of the three-stage polls takes place in Cairo’s twin city of Giza; Beni Sueif south of the capital; the Nile Delta provinces of Menufiya, Sharqiya and Beheira; the canal cities of Ismailiya and Suez and the southern cities Sohag and Aswan.

Balloting began on Wednesday with a “large voter turnout,” said Hamdi Badeen, a member of the ruling council.

Parties affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Salafi movements won 65 percent of all votes in the first phase, trouncing liberal parties which managed 29.3 percent.

“We tried the liberals and the secularists and they did nothing for us,” said one voter, Mohammed Rashad, on Wednesday, referring to Mubarak’s party. “The Islamists have God's law.”

The Muslim Brotherhood had been widely forecast to triumph as the country’s most organized political group, well known after decades of charitable work and its endurance through repeated crackdowns by the Mubarak regime.

But the good showing from Salafist groups was a surprise, raising fears of a more conservative and overtly religious 498-member new parliament.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been at pains to stress its commitment to multi-party democracy, inclusiveness and civil liberties, while also advocating the application of sharia Islamic law.

Nevertheless, the prospect of an Islamist-dominated parliament raises fears among liberals about religious freedom in a country with the Middle East's largest Christian minority.

Much remains unclear about how the new parliament will function and whether it will be able to resolve a stand-off with the armed forces over how much power they will retain under a new constitution to be written next year.

After the voting for the lower house of parliament, which will end in January, Egyptians will then elect an upper house in a further three rounds of polls.

We tried the liberals and the secularists and they did nothing for us

Mohammed Rashad, voter

Drafting rules for presidential vote

Meanwhile, candidates seeking to run in Egypt’s presidential election will need the support of 30 members of parliament or 30,000 citizens, according to a draft of a presidential election law, details of which were published by the state news agency on Thursday.

The draft also allows any party with at least one elected seat in parliament to field one of its members for the post, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported, citing the draft.

The new rules for the election due in June will replace old conditions in place during Mubarak’s era and which effectively ruled out any realistic challenge to his rule.

The army council, which has ruled Egypt since Mubarak was ousted in February, has pledged to hand over powers to the elected president by the start of July and return to barracks.

MENA said the draft had been presented to the army’s newly appointed consultative council for review.

The 30,000 signatures supporting a presidential candidate must include people from at least 15 of Egypt's 27 provinces, MENA said.

Mubarak, now being tried over the killing of protesters and abuse of power, was serving his fifth six-year presidential term when he was ousted by a popular uprising.

For most of his three decades in office, his presidential terms were preceded by a single candidate referendum, which he always won with crushing majorities.

Egypt held its first multi-candidate race in 2005, which Mubarak won, although the rules meant there was no significant challenger and the vote was marred by widespread abuses.