ASWAN: Voters turned out in droves on Wednesday, the first of two days of elections in the second round in the southern city of Aswan, where 850,000 Egyptians are eligible to cast their vote. Sixteen parties are competing over four seats in the party lists system, while 108 individuals contest two single-winner seats. Compared to Edfu, voter turnout was relatively low in Aswan city. Edfu alone constitutes over 40 percent of the governorate's voting capacity with 375,000 eligible voters. Tribalism mainly directs the voting decisions in the Upper Egyptian governorate with two main tribes, Gaafra and Ababda concentrated in Kom Ombo city and the villages surrounding Edfu. Most candidates topping the party lists come from Edfu, with Al-Wafd Party's list headed by lawyer Mohammed El-Merghany, who hails from El-Marari tribe in central Edfu. Shahat El-Barsy, who tops the Freedom and Justice Party's (FJP) list, is from El-Edwah village, and Mohammed El-Kelhy, on top of the Salafi Al-Nour Party's list, is from in El-Kelh village. Coptic Christians participated in high numbers and mostly chose the secular Egyptian Bloc, spearheaded by the Free Egyptians Party, or Al-Wafd Party. Posters on the walls of the polling stations advertised Al-Wasat, the FJP, Al-Nour and the Egyptian Bloc, as well as splinters from the disbanded National Democratic Party, such as the Reform and Development Party and the Union Party. As campaigners attempting to sway voters in front of polling stations were asked to leave by army forces, the Egyptian Bloc and the FJP hurled accusations of illegal campaigning against each other. In an official statement released Wednesday, the Bloc singled out Al-Nour and the FJP, accusing them of campaigning outside the polling stations in the cities of Daraw and Aswan. The Bloc also reported cases of group voting for the FJP and Al-Nour in Edfu. On the other hand, the operations room of the FJP complained to Daily News Egypt in a telephone interview about the Bloc directing voters to choose other parties “to achieve balance inside parliament” to counter the success of Islamist parties in the first round. Their complaint was reiterated in an official statement released by the FJP Wednesday. "These calls hide a very clear message not to vote for the FJP in favor of other forces, which is interference in the will of voters," the statement said, adding that the new parliament will reveal the free will of Egyptians with the participation of all forces regardless of the percentage of their presence inside parliament. Spokesman of Al-Wasat Party Medhat El-Mata'ny praised in a telephone interview with DNE the presence of army and police forces who prevented campaigners from various parties from distributing flyers inside polling stations. "The competition will be fierce between the FJP, Al-Nour and the Egyptian Bloc, followed by Al-Wafd in Edfu," he said. Although the Revolution Continues Alliance is the only list headed by a Nubian, the Nubian community in Nuba seems inclined to vote for the Egyptian Bloc, while the FJP comes next, according to Nubian activist Ahmed Ragab. "The FJP nominated a Nubian for one of the single winner seats, but Nubians are more likely to vote for an independent candidate and prominent Nubian activist Adel Abu Bakr," Ragab said. The competition is fierce over the individual seats where the 108 candidate contesting the race are dominated by remnants of the disbanded National Democratic Party. Indications point to a final showdown between former NDP member and Dean of the Social Service Institute Gaber Awad, who belongs to the Ababda tribe, the former Shoura Council MP also a former NDP member Ahmed El-Kagougy of the Ga'afra tribe in Kom Ombo, and independent candidate and former Al-Wafd Party member Mohammed El-Omda.
