Egypt votes … again?
Egyptian electoral officials wait for voters at an empty polling station in Cairo during the first stage of voting for Egypt’s upper house of parliament, the Shura Council. Polling got under way with only a handful of voters at several stations.
Even Egypt's winning Muslim Brotherhood can't get into this next round of elections here.
Yes, Egypt is voting again — this time for a consultative Shura Council with vaguely-defined powers.
#FJP: it's critical people vote in Shura elections, members will participate in formation of Constituent Assembly drafting constitution
— Fjparty (@FjpartyOrg) January 29, 2012
That's the Brotherhood-established Freedom and Justice Party's (rather) unenthusiastic tweet on the first day of Shura Council voting yesterday. The account hasn't posted about the elections since.
More from GlobalPost: Muslim Brotherhood poised to win Egypt elections
It seems the majority of the country has a serious case of voter fatigue, after a lengthy, six-week-long elections process — with three rounds, run-offs and even re-votes — for Egypt's People's Assembly ended in Jan. 2012.
The 270-member Shura Council, 2/3 of whom will be elected over two rounds now and in Feb. 2012, once existed as a rubber-stamp body for President Hosni Mubarak's repressive policies.
The remaining members will be appointed by any new president, and will be tasked with helping draft, along with the People's Assembly, the country's news constitution.
More from GlobalPost: Egypt parliament opens to raucous 1st day
Though with Egypt's ruling generals still running the show, it inspires few on Egypt's streets:
The English-language Egyptian Daily, Egypt Independent, had an even better headline: Shura Council elections underway, but many ask: What's the point?
According to the FJP, voter turnout on the first day was just 10 percent — and that was in some of the country's most populated urban centers.
Confused? Check out The Concise Idiot's Guide to the Egyptian Elections. Or our own less concise, but also less condescending: Egypt Votes: A primer.
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