CAIRO: Voter turnout remained low on Tuesday as Egyptians cast their votes in the second day of the parliamentary elections’ run-offs in nine governorates, with only minor scuffles reported.
"Voter turnout is severely low, it reminds us with Mubarak’s days when nobody showed up," Executive Director of the Egyptian Democratic Academy (EDA) Hossam El-Din Ali told Daily News Egypt.
"Security forces only prevented some monitors from entering a few polling stations in Luxor; other than that, the heavy security presence prevented any kind of clashes during the two days of the run-offs whether in the districts of Cairo or in the rest of the governorates," he added.
In Damietta, judges stopped the voting process in two polling stations in El-Zarka district when campaigners of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the Salafi Al-Nour Party were speaking to voters inside polling stations.
"The representatives of the two parties exchanged accusations which led to the interference of military police, who cursed both of them, leading to a minor scuffle," Damietta blogger Mohamed Mansour told DNE.
Mansour also said that judges were keen to check the identities of women wearing the face veil, and all publicity booths built near the polling stations were removed. Both issues were noted among the top violations of the first round of voting on Nov. 28-29.
In Assiut, a revenge fight between two families left two injured, scaring citizens in Al-Ezewiyah village of Dairout from going to polling stations.
Meanwhile, religion-based mobilization of voters increased, especially in support of two independent candidates backed by the secular Egyptian Bloc spearheaded by the Free Egyptians Party.
"Although these two independent [candidates] are known for belonging to the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP), Copts were very keen on voting for them against the other Islamist candidates," member of a popular committee in Assiut, Haitham El-Masry, told DNE.
The two candidates are said to be widely popular in their constituencies due to services they provide these communities and strong family and tribal ties they possess.
Menoufeya governorate, where the elections are expected to take place in the second round on Dec. 14, witnessed an election-related death Sunday when a supporter of the Free Egyptians Party’s candidate was shot dead in a rally.
The party said in a statement released Sunday that Ibrahim Ebaid, a driver working for the party’s candidate Ahmed Shawky Nassar in Tella constituency, was shot dead during a rally to support Nassar.
Sherif Samir, media spokesperson of Free Egyptians party, declined in a phone interview with DNE to accuse certain parties that could be involved in the shooting.
"We are waiting for the results of the prosecution’s investigations," Samir said.
Media reports suggested that supporters of rival candidate of Al-Wasat Party Moustafa El-Azab could be involved, but Al-Wasat Party denied in an official statement these accusations.
"All supporters of Al-Wasat Party were in a public conference in Shubrabas village in Shebine El-Koom, away from the site of clashes," Head of Al-Wasat Party Youth Committee Mohamed Sobhy said in the statement.
