– Sisi urges voters –
As Egyptians abroad started casting their ballots on Saturday, Sisi appeared on television calling on citizens to vote.
“Celebrate the choice of representatives and make the right choice,” he said.
“I am expecting Egyptian youth to be the driving force in this celebration of democracy.”
Of the 596 lawmakers being elected, 448 will be voted in as independents, 120 on party lists, and 28 will be presidential appointees.
The main coalition is the pro-Sisi For the Love of Egypt, which includes the liberal Free Egyptians Party founded by telecom tycoon Naguib Sawiris, and Al-Wafd Party, also liberal. It aims to win two-thirds of the seats.
The Egyptian Front, led by Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak’s last premier, is another key coalition, and the openly pro-Sisi Salafist Al-Nur party that backed Morsi’s ouster is the only Islamist party standing.
About 55 million voters are eligible to cast their votes in the two-stage election across the country’s 27 provinces, with polling in the first stage to be held over two days.
Any run-off in the first phase will be contested on October 27-28. The second phase starts on November 21.
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