Egyptians have been voting in a parliamentary poll after
a campaign that saw clashes between the opposition and security forces.
The ruling NDP party is expected to win the election
easily.
Interest centres on whether the officially banned Muslim
Brotherhood retains its position as the biggest opposition grouping.
Earlier, the son of a candidate was killed in Cairo but
it was unclear whether it was election-related.
There have also been unconfirmed reports of some violence
outside the capital involving supporters of the government and the Muslim
Brotherhood.
In 2005, its supporters won about a fifth of the seats,
standing as independent candidates.
The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo says turnout is not expected
to be much above 10% as most Egyptians have long since lost faith in politics
and politicians.
The man who was killed this weekend was putting up
posters for his father, an independent candidate, in the hours before voting
started.
Relatives said he was attacked in a poor neighbourhood by
two men, and stabbed to death.
They said it was politically motivated, although the
authorities have suggested the crime was about a personal matter.
There were other reports of confrontation and violence
around the country.
In the northern city of Alexandria, a stronghold of the
Muslim Brotherhood, there was a tense stand-off between their supporters and
backers of the NDP.
Muslim Brotherhood candidates must stand as independents
if they wish to take part in the election, but their supporters said they had
been prevented from voting.
“There’s no voting going on, just rigging. It’s a
disgrace,” said one voter. “There was no privacy. The ballot boxes
were full.”
But Abdel-Salam Mahgoub, an NDP candidate in Alexandria,
told Reuters the Muslim Brotherhood were “looking for an excuse to cover
their failure”.
Many people have stayed home, fearing election day
violence, and the streets of Cairo are exceptionally quiet, our correspondent
says.
Some 42m voters are eligible to cast their ballots, with
results expected within several days.
The new parliament will have 518 members, 508 of whom
will be elected and 10 will be appointed by presidential decree.
Each of the 254 constituencies will return two MPs
representing two sets of people: workers and farmers represent one group, and
professionals the other. According to the constitution, the former must account
for at least half of all MPs.
The winners are decided on a first-past-the-post basis.
To win outright, a candidate must get more than 50% of the vote. Otherwise, the
top two battle it out in a second round.
There has already been widespread criticism of the way
the election has been conducted.
In a number of seats, the courts have called for the
elections to be postponed, because opposition candidates were illegally struck
off the ballot.
Some observers believe that the ruling party may win an
embarrassingly large victory, further undermining the credibility of these
elections.
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