Egyptians today and tomorrow will begin choosing a new representative government, with 55 political parties and scores of individual candidates in the running.
But the real competition will be between the secular Egypt Bloc and the Islamist Democratic Alliance.
With an estimated half of the country illiterate, many voters will choose by selecting symbols attributed to the parties by the electoral commission.
The Egypt Bloc is represented by the eye symbol, while the Democratic Alliance, led by the Muslim Brotherhood-controlled Freedom and Justice Party, has the scales of justice symbol.
"It's a vote about how people will live in Egypt for the years to come," said Heba Hagrass, a candidate in the Qasr Al Nil district for the Free Egyptians party. "I tell everyone I meet - drivers, shopkeepers, my friends - that this is about the shape of the country.
"There hasn't been time to judge the parties, so you have to vote Islamist or the Egypt Bloc."
With major policy differences largely absent, the vote has zeroed in on issues of morality and the role of religion in the state.
The new parliament's first job will be to create a 100-member assembly to rewrite the constitution.
The elections would have been complex and meaningful enough on their own, but the legitimacy of the voting is under threat as well.
Source : http://www.thenational.ae
Source : http://www.thenational.ae
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