Egyptians were voting Sunday on the last day of a highly divisive presidential run-off between an Islamist and Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, amid moves by the army to consolidate its power ahead of the final results.
Former air force chief Ahmed Shafiq, who served as ex-president Mubarak’s prime minister in the last days of the uprising that toppled him, is vying for the top job against Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi.
Small queues formed outside polling stations, which had opened at 0600 GMT, with police and army deployed nationwide, and voting was extended until 1900 GMT.
The election comes against a backdrop of legal and political chaos, with the Muslim Brotherhood set on a confrontation path with the ruling military after it ordered the Islamist-led parliament dissolved.
The move throws Egypt’s already tumultuous transition after Mubarak’s ouster last year into further disarray with the new president expected to take office without a parliament and without a constitution.
The ruling military council is to maintain control over legislation and the budget in the absence of a parliament, even as the country prepares to announce a new president, military sources told AFP.
Military sources said the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was set to issue an amended constitutional declaration.