CAIRO, January 3 (Itar-Tass) —— The third final round of the parliamentary elections will begin in Egypt on Tuesday. The residents of nine provinces, which did not vote yet, including the resort cities on the Sinai Peninsula, will participate in the voting that will last two days.
Some 14.3 million people are registered as voters, the Egyptian Central Elections Commission reported. They will elect from 2,746 candidates 150 deputies, including 100 deputies on the party lists and 50 deputies from independent candidates.
The Islamists, namely members of the Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafite Nur Party, are leading with a big margin after first two rounds of the parliamentary elections. The liberal parties are coming third.
However, the elections will not end after the third round. After the by-elections the elections in the upper house of parliament - the Shura (Consultative) Council will be held. Meanwhile, the Egyptian military authorities decided to speed up the election process and limit the Shura elections with two rounds instead of initially planned three rounds. The elections in the upper house of parliament are scheduled for January 29-30 and February 14-15.