First Post-Mubarak Poll Kicks off in Egypt

Local Editor

Egyptians began casting their ballots in first elections since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak in February following a popular uprising.

The elections on Monday come as anti-military rule protesters are staging rallies across the country, mainly in Cairo’s Tahriri Square.

Voters on are choosing 168 of the 498 deputies, which will form the new lower house of parliament. The vote is only the first stage in an election timetable which lasts until March 2012 and covers two houses of parliament.

In this round, some of Egypt’s most populous areas will vote including Cairo, Alexandria, Assiut, Port Said and Luxor. Over 50 political parties are contesting the elections, along with thousands of candidates running as independents.

Many Egyptians remained worried that there may be outbreaks of violence at polling stations, while others have been concerned that the nation remains polarised over the choice of candidates.

QUEUES OF VOTERS

Police were stationed outside polling stations across Egypt on Monday morning as parliamentary elections start.

At the Omar Makram school, in the working class central Cairo neighborhood of Shubra, men and women queued in separate lines before the opening of polling stations at 8:00 am (0600G).

In the upmarket Cairo neighbourhood of Zamalek, several hundred lined up for over an hour, some resting on chairs, before their polling station opened.

In Alexandria, Egypt's second-biggest city and a major port on the Mediterranean, about 200 people queued outside a polling station at a girls' school in the Al-Raml district on the seafront.
"There are many parties contesting this election, so the best thing is for Egyptians to participate," Amin, a 55-year-old physician, told AFP.

"Last year, there was nobody voting because it was only one party," the physician added, referring to parliamentary elections in November and December of 2010.

“GRAVE CONCEQUENCES”

The poll preparations have been marred by a new wave of demonstrations, as protesters occupied the square to demand the military council that replaced Mubarak hand power to a civilian government.

For its part, the ruling military council warned of "extremely grave" consequences if the country does not pull through its current crisis.

The Head of Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshal Mohammad Hussein Tantawi, claimed on Sunday that "foreign hands" were behind the current turmoil.

In comments carried by the nation's official news agen
cy, Tantawi rejected calls for the SCAF's leadership to step down immediately. Demonstrators had called for their replacement by a "national salvation" government to run the country's affairs until a president is elected.

Tantawi instead promised the creation of a 50-member advisory council that would advise the SCAF.

Source: Agencies

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian