Egypt parliament elections underway
Polling stations open as Egypt launches first parliamentary elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster last February
Polling stations opened on Monday, state television reported, in Egypt's first parliamentary election since a popular uprising ended the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak in February.
The vote is a milestone many Egyptians hope will usher in a democratic age after decades of dictatorship.
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Egyptians in Cairo, Alexandria and other areas included in the first phase of the staggered lower house election were allowed to vote from 8 am (0600 GMT). Polls close at 7 pm (1700 GMT) but voters in this round can also vote on Tuesday.
The vote promises to be the fairest and cleanest election in Egypt in living memory. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and best organized group, along with its Islamist allies are expected to do well in the vote.
At least 1,000 people were queuing outside one polling station in the central Cairo district of Zamalek when voting started at 8 am (0600 GMT). The line stretched around the block. Posters of candidates and parties festooned the street.
"We are very happy to be here and to be part of the election," said Wafa Zaklama, 55, voting for the first time in a parliamentary election. "What was the point before?" she asked.
The first phase of voting on Monday and Tuesday includes Cairo and Alexandria. The staggered voting system means the election to the lower house will not be completed till Jan. 11. Voters pick a mixture of party lists and individual candidates.
Egyptians line up outside polling stations (Photo: Reuters)
"I am voting for freedom. We lived in slavery. Now we want justice in freedom," said 50-year-old Iris Nawar as she was about to vote in the district of Maadi, a Cairo suburb.
"We are afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood. But we lived for 30 years under Mubarak, we will live with them too," said Nawar, a fist-time voter.
Oppressed under Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties stood aloof from those challenging army rule, unwilling to let anything obstruct elections that may open a route to political power previously beyond their reach.
It is not clear whether voters will punish them for that or whether the Brotherhood's disciplined organisation will enable its newly formed Freedom and Justice Party to triumph over the welter of lesser-known parties and individuals in the race.
Demonstrators who gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday want the council to make way for a civilian interim administration immediately. They reject its promise to complete the handover by July and its choice of 78-year-old Kamal Ganzouri to form the next cabinet.
Activists had called for a mass rally to pile pressure on the generals, and by mid-afternoon there were thousands in the square, hub of the unrest that toppled Mubarak.
Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the council, said the army would ensure security at the polling booths.
AP and Reuters contributed to this report
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