Egyptian expatriates vote in parliamentary polls

An Egyptian man rides a bike by banners of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary election in the city center of El-Minya, Egypt, on October. 15, 2015.

Egyptian parliamentary election polls opened for Egyptians living overseas on Saturday, marking the final phase of the country’s “roadmap to democracy”.

Guinea’s President Alpha Conde is on track to win another term in office after taking a strong lead in partial results from Sunday’s election, according to the election commission. Arabic reads, “Ahmed Fekry”.

The polls, which will continue through December, will produce Egypt’s first elected parliament in more than three years.

The now-banned Muslim Brotherhood swept the previous parliament along with ultra-conservative Salafists, but that assembly was dissolved in June 2012 even before Morsi’s election as Egypt’s first freely elected leader. In the face of the government’s crackdown and curbed freedoms, lesser known pro-democracy activists who burst on the political scene in 2011 have either sought exile overseas, withdrawn from public politics or are jailed for opposing El-Sisi’s government.

Many Egyptians have reposted the Sisi’s Mickey Mouse photograph, expressing their outrage over the sentence.

But while it has been wrested from Egypt’s political arena, analysts say this is unlikely to be the last voters see of the Brotherhood.

They are hopeful that the resulting new parliament will pave the way for a new era of stability and prosperity after four years of political and economic strife. Several other opposition parties are boycotting the election out of the picture as well.

The election, moreover, will be held amid a climate of fear not seen in decades and a tightly controlled public sphere.

Security forces reports said most of those arrested were students. Draconian restrictions on demonstrations since late 2013 have all but killed street activism of any kind.

“The Brotherhood and the regime have gone too far in their confrontation”.

Egypt’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On paper, MPs could act as a check on the president’s power: the 596-seat parliament has the power to impeach the President as well as debate the many decrees he has signed since his election in July a year ago – 175 at the last count.

Nobody is expecting anything less than a resounding win for a parliament loyal to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. It will also confirm widespread allegations that security agencies have engineered the vote in such a way that would ensure a chamber packed with El-Sisi supporters.

The “For the Love of Egypt” list, which includes liberal Free Egyptians Party, Al-Wafd Party, a prominent retired army officer, former government ministers, and high-profile businessmen, openly supports President Sisi.