Egypt begins long-awaited parliamentary election, early turnout low

Egypt's long-awaited parliamentary election got off to a slow start on Sunday, marking the final step in a process that was meant to restore democracy but which critics say has been undermined by state repression.

Egypt has had no parliament since June 2012 when a court dissolved the democratically-elected main chamber, then dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, reversing a key accomplishment of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Then army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted elected President Mohamed Mursi of the Brotherhood the following year, banning Egypt's oldest Islamist movement and declaring it a terrorist organization.

Sisi has described the election as a milestone in his roadmap to democracy.

Visits by Reuters correspondents to polling stations and state television broadcasts showed light turnout and little enthusiasm in early voting, in sharp contrast to the long lines that formed at the last, Islamist-dominated election in 2012.

Most voters interviewed were supporters of Sisi, who has brought a sense of stability after years of political turmoil but has been accused by human rights groups of crushing opponents. He denies the allegations.

Security was tight in a country facing an insurgency led by a Sinai-based group that supports Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group based in Iraq and Syria.

Egypt's constitution, passed by referendum before Sisi won a presidential vote in mid-2014, endows the new parliament with wide-ranging powers. On paper, it can reject the president's choice for prime minister or even impeach the president.

But with Muslim Brotherhood leaders and youth activists at the forefront of the 2011 revolt behind bars, critics fear the elections will produce a rubber-stamp parliament.

Soldiers and policemen stood guard outside a polling station in a school in October 6 City on the outskirts of Cairo, where there were only about 30 people casting ballots.

Vans blasted nationalist and pro-army songs. Most voters were elderly and middle-aged.

"I want the youth to get elected. We need new blood," said Fatma Farag, an elderly woman.

In Cairo's low-income Boulaq al-Dakrour neighborhood, there were many campaign banners but far more police and polling station workers than voters.

Sisi faces a multitude of challenges, including widespread poverty, an energy crisis, high unemployment and attacks by militants which have killed hundreds of soldiers and police since Mursi's fall and hurt the vital tourism industry.

He secured support from other opposition groups for ousting Mursi by promising a prompt parliamentary vote. The elections, repeatedly postponed, will now take place over two rounds on Oct 18-19 and Nov 22-23.

This week, voters cast their ballots in 14 regions including Egypt's second city of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast and Giza, a province which includes parts of Cairo west of the Nile.