Egyptians turned out in large numbers Wednesday to vote in the second round of parliamentary elections that have become a stiff competition between dominant Islamist parties likely to steer the country in a more religious direction. Two Islamist blocs won an overwhelming majority, close to 70 percent of seats contested, in the first round of voting on Nov. 28-29, according to an AP tally compiled from official results. The secular and liberal forces that largely drove Egypt's uprising failed to turn their achievement into a victory at the polls and were trounced. The final two rounds of voting are not expected to dramatically alter the result and could even strengthen the Islamists' hand. “We have to try Islamic rule to be able to decide if it's good for us,” said 60-year-old voter Hussein Khattab waiting to vote at a polling station near Giza province. The two dominant Islamist Parties — the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice and the even more conservative Al-Nour bloc — together took about 68 percent of the seats up for grabs in the first round. For round two, liberals have vowed to beef up their presence near voting stations to ensure that Islamist parties are not violating the legal ban on campaigning on election days. The election commission has said that this time it will monitor polling stations for violations. Final results for 150 seats from the first round have been announced. The second round, which ends Tuesday, will decide 180 seats in the 498-seat People's Assembly, the parliament's lower house. The second round runs for two days through Thursday. The final stage is Jan. 3-4. Rounds are divided up by province, with nine of the 27 provinces voting in each round.It remains unclear what powers the new parliament, expected to be seated in March, will have. In theory, it is supposed to form a 100-member assembly to write a new constitution. But the military council that has ruled since Mubarak's fall says the parliament will not be representative of all of Egypt, and should not have sole power over the drafting of the constitution. Last week, the military appointed a 30-member council to oversee the process. Nearly 19 million of Egypt's 50 million eligible voters can participate in the second round.
