CAIRO, June 16 (AFP) Polls opened Saturday in the second round of a divisive election to choose a successor for ousted president Hosni Mubarak, in a race that pits an ex-premier against an Islamist.
Long queues had already formed outside some voting stations before the polls opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) with police and army deployed outside, according to AFP reporters.
Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi has promised that an Egypt under his leadership would be inclusive and vowed to defend the goals of last year's uprising, while ex-prime minister Ahmed Shafiq is running on a tough law-and-order platform.
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| Egyptian protesters shout slogans against presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq and are holding a doctored portrait depicting a fusion of the faces of Shafiq (L) and Mubarak (R) (AFP) |
"I will vote for the one who will guarantee security and safety for our community," said Makram, a Coptic Christian voter, from a polling station in the Shoubra neighbourhood.
Over in Manial, an island in the Nile, a crowd including veiled and unveiled women waited to cast their ballots.
"I'm voting for Mursi because I don't want Shafiq to win. I'm scared of Mursi but I'm more scared of Shafiq," said Nagwan Gamal, 26, a teaching assistant.
The race has polarised the nation, dividing those who fear a return to the old regime under Shafiq's leadership from others who want to keep religion out of politics and fear the Brotherhood would stifle personal freedoms.
The race has polarised the nation, dividing those who fear a return to the old regime under Shafiq's leadership from others who want to keep religion out of politics and fear the Brotherhood would stifle personal freedoms.
Mursi scraped ahead with 24.7 percent in the first round, with former air force chief Shafiq winning 23.6 percent, and there are no clear polls indicating who may gain the upper hand in the run-off.
The election comes amid turmoil that could see the ruling military -- which took power when Mubarak resigned in February last year -- maintain its grip on power.
On Thursday, the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled certain articles in the law governing parliamentary elections to be invalid, thus annulling the Islamist-led house.
The Brotherhood won 47 percent of the body's seats in a drawn-out process between November last year and February.
The top court also ruled unconstitutional the "political isolation" law, which bars senior members of Mubarak's regime and top members of his now-dissolved party from running for public office for 10 years.
The law, passed by parliament earlier this year, had threatened to bar Shafiq from the race. |
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