Polls closed in Egypt after the first phase of parliamentary elections in which candidates loyal to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are expected to sweep to victory.
Some 63 million voters out of Egypt’s more than 100 million people are eligible to elect 568 of the 596 lawmakers in the lower house, widely seen as a rubber-stamp body for executive policies.
The remaining deputies will be appointed by former army general-turned-president Sisi, whose government has over the past six years silenced any serious political opposition to its rule.
The first phase of voting took place over the weekend in 14 provinces including Cairo, Alexandria and Aswan.
The second stage of voting, to be held on November 7-8, will cover Egypt’s 13 other provinces.
Run-offs are scheduled to take place in November and December, and the newly elected lawmakers will begin their terms in January.
The new parliament will be the second to convene under Sisi, who took office in 2014 after the previous year leading the military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
