Egyptians turned out to vote again yesterday in the run-off of a staggered election marred by deadly clashes between protesters and security forces that have left 14 people dead in five days.
Polling stations opened at 8am in a third of the country’s 27 provinces.
The run-off in the second round of legislative polls, which takes place over two days, will see the two largest Islamist parties go head-to-head for 59 seats of the lower house.
Photo: AFP
The ruling military has decided on a complex election system in which voters cast ballots for party lists, which will comprise two thirds of parliament, and also for individual candidates for the remaining third of the lower house.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has repeatedly pointed to the elections, the first parliamentary polls since a popular uprising ousted former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in February, as proof of its intention to hand power to civilian rule.
The procedure to elect a full assembly ends in March. Presidential elections are expected by the end of June.
The elections have exposed a deepening rift among Egyptians who see them as the first step to democratic rule and those who say the new parliament — whose function remains unclear — leaves control in the hands of the military.
The SCAF has also faced growing outrage at its heavy handed tactics against demonstrators.
Deadly clashes that erupted on Friday pitting troops and police against protesters demanding an end to military rule have piled pressure on the SCAF, with liberals and Islamists uniting to condemn its handling of the transition.
On Tuesday, the military apologized for attacks on female demonstrators that had prompted local and international outrage.
The ruling generals, facing a backlash after videos circulated of soldiers beating female protesters and partly stripping a veiled woman as they dragged her, pledged action against those responsible in an unusually contrite statement.
The apology came hours after the country’s forensics chief cast further doubt on the generals’ credibility when he said most protesters killed died of gunshot wounds, despite military denials that they fired on demonstrators.
Despite clashes before and during the elections, the voting itself has been orderly and mostly calm, with Islamists emerging as the front-runners.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party said it won 39 percent of votes in the party lists, with 49 individual candidates vying for seats in yesterday’s run-off.
The Al-Nur party, which represents the more hardline brand of Salafi Islam, has claimed more than 30 percent of the votes in the lists and has 36 candidates competing in the run-off.
In the first round of the elections which began on Nov. 28, Islamist parties trounced their liberal rivals, securing around 65 percent of all votes cast for parties.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese