Egyptians cast ballots Sunday for the upper house, with Islamists looking to build on their success in voting for the lower assembly as part of the first polls since a revolt ousted Hosni Mubarak. Polling got under way with only a handful of voters at several stations, in sharp contrast to the long lines and enthusiasm around the elections for lower house of parliament. The election for the Shura Council, an advisory body, takes place over two stages, after which members of both houses will choose a panel to draft a new constitution. The elections are part of a roadmap for a transition to democratic rule laid out by the ruling military council that took power after the popular uprising that overthrew Mubarak last year.
The first phase of voting takes place over two days in 13 provinces, including the largest cities Cairo and Alexandria, and the second in the remaining 14.
Under the complex system adopted after Mubarak’s ouster, two thirds of the Shura’s 180 elected members will be elected via a party-list system, while one third will be elected directly. One third of the Shura Council will be nominated by the head of state. Under the framework for a transfer to civilian rule, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has said the two chambers, once elected, should choose 100 members of a constitutional commission. But voters in Cairo appeared split on the importance of the latest poll. “I voted in the referendum (on constitutional amendments in March), I voted for the (People’s) Assembly, and so I will vote for the Shura,” said a voter who only gave her name as Seham.