Egyptians return to polls for parliamentary vote

Egyptians in nine provinces voted Wednesday in the second round of the first parliamentary elections since a popular uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February.             

Dozens of people waited in line outside a polling station in a school near the Pyramids in Giza west of Cairo, waiting to cast their ballots and dip their fingers in purple ink to prevent double voting.            

The election, held in three stages that will conclude early next year, is the first since Mubarak's ouster and will likely swing Egypt's government in a more Islamist direction. Islamist parties took a majority of the seats contested in the first round, and many expect them to do at least as well in the subsequent rounds.               

Voter Hussein Khattab, an accountant, said he planned to vote for the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood, the big winner in the first round, which took 47 percent of the seats awarded so far.                 

"We have to try Islamic rule to be able to decide if it's good for us. If not we can go back to Tahrir," said Khattab, 60, referring to the Cairo square that was the focus of the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak.              

"I want to have a constitution that will satisfy everyone," he said. "This must achieve democracy, social justice and equality above all else."             

The Brotherhood faces its stiffest competition from ultraconservative Salafi Muslims, whose Al-Nour bloc won an unexpected 21 percent of seats in the first round.              

The liberal Egyptian Bloc, which took nine percent of seats in the first round, is looking to increase its share and has vowed to beef up its presence near voting stations to ensure that Islamist parties are not violating the legal ban on campaigning on election days.     

AP