Egypt Parliamentary Vote

Egyptians cast their ballots Tuesday in a first round run-off of a parliamentary vote expected to elect lawmakers firmly backing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the absence of any opposition.

Egyptians turned out in low numbers today to vote in the first phase of an election hailed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a milestone on the road to democracy but shunned by critics who say the new chamber will rubber stamp his decisions.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced on Sunday that procedures that would pave the way for a parliamentary election would start before July 18, state television reported.

Egypt's government is likely to call a presidential election before parliamentary polls, officials said.

Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said on Friday, Egypt would hold parliamentary elections between February and March, followed by presidential polls in early summer, and that the political arm of ousted President Mohamed Morsi's banned Muslim Brotherhood could take part.

Egypt's interim rulers issued a faster than expected timetable for elections to try to drag the country out of crisis, a day after 51 people were killed when troops fired on a crowd supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday called parliamentary elections that will begin on April 27 and finish in late June, a four-stage vote that the Islamist leader hopes will conclude Egypt's turbulent transition to democracy.

A trickle of Egyptian voters headed to the polls on Monday for two days of runoffs in the country's first parliamentary elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, a balloting in which Islamist parties already captured an overwhelming majority of the votes in the first round.

Islamists appear to have taken a strong majority of seats in the first round of Egypt's first parliamentary vote since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, a trend that if confirmed would give religious parties a popular mandate in the struggle to win control from the ruling military and ultimately reshape a key U.S. ally.

Defying expectations of chaos and violence, unexpectedly large crowds of voters turned out at dawn Monday to cast their votes in Egypt's first parliamentary election since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February.

Egyptians cast their ballots Tuesday in a first round run-off of a parliamentary vote expected to elect lawmakers firmly backing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the absence of any opposition.

Egyptians turned out in low numbers today to vote in the first phase of an election hailed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a milestone on the road to democracy but shunned by critics who say the new chamber will rubber stamp his decisions.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced on Sunday that procedures that would pave the way for a parliamentary election would start before July 18, state television reported.

Egypt's government is likely to call a presidential election before parliamentary polls, officials said.

Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said on Friday, Egypt would hold parliamentary elections between February and March, followed by presidential polls in early summer, and that the political arm of ousted President Mohamed Morsi's banned Muslim Brotherhood could take part.

Egypt's interim rulers issued a faster than expected timetable for elections to try to drag the country out of crisis, a day after 51 people were killed when troops fired on a crowd supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday called parliamentary elections that will begin on April 27 and finish in late June, a four-stage vote that the Islamist leader hopes will conclude Egypt's turbulent transition to democracy.

A trickle of Egyptian voters headed to the polls on Monday for two days of runoffs in the country's first parliamentary elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, a balloting in which Islamist parties already captured an overwhelming majority of the votes in the first round.

Islamists appear to have taken a strong majority of seats in the first round of Egypt's first parliamentary vote since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, a trend that if confirmed would give religious parties a popular mandate in the struggle to win control from the ruling military and ultimately reshape a key U.S. ally.

Defying expectations of chaos and violence, unexpectedly large crowds of voters turned out at dawn Monday to cast their votes in Egypt's first parliamentary election since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February.