Egyptians go for presidential polls
Egyptians went to polls on Wednesday morning to elect a new president
after the fall of ex-President Hosni Mubarak last year.The polling
stations opened at 8:00 a.m.
(0600 GMT) across the country under tight security of police and
troops. There were long queues in front of many polling stations in
Cairo. The vote is expected to be the most free and fair of its kind in
the past 60 years in Egypt.
There are about 50
million eligible voters, who will select one from 12 presidential
candidates. Top hopefuls include former Arab League chief Amr Moussa,
Islamist Aboul Fotouh, Freedom and Justice Party chairman Mohamed Morsi
and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq and left-wing Nasserist Hamdeen
Sabahy.
Government employees have one day off
for the voting. School classes were halted. Polling stations close at 8
p.m. (1800 GMT) for the two-day voting.
To ensure the transparency and fairness
of the elections, 14, 500 judges and 65,000 public servants were
deployed nationwide to monitor the process. Three foreign civil society
organizations and 49 local ones were allowed to observe the event.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is also in Egypt to monitor the
election with his Carter Center.
The one-week voting for overseas Egyptians ended on May 17, with the results yet to be announced.
Analysts say it is
unlikely to have a clear winner in the first round as votes will much
divided among popular candidates. The run- off will be held in June. To
win the election requires a candidate to win over 50 percent of the
votes.
The results of the presidential polls
will be announced on June 21. The SCAF, who took over power from
Mubarak, is expected to transfer power to the new president by June 30,
which marks the end of the transitional period.
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