Roundup: 28.3 turnout in Egypt's legislative elections

Egypt's Electoral Supreme Committee said on Friday that 28.3 percent of country's eligible voters participated in the first parliamentary election since the army-led ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

The most populous Arab country has 94 million population, and more than 53 million are eligible to vote in the two-stage elections.

Ayamn Abbas, head of the election committee, told a news conference that 15,206,010 voters have cast their ballots in the polls, and the overall turnout rate is 28.3.

The rate poses a record low compared with the more than 54 percent in 2012 elections that elected a parliament dominated by Islamists.

Abbas said that after holding the two rounds of elections, 316 individual and 239 party-affiliated candidates won seats at the parliament.

The new parliament will consist of 596 seats, 448 of which are for individuals, 120 for winners from party-based lists and the remaining 28 will be appointed by the president.

Only four constituencies with 13 seats are remaining for voting which will take place inside and outside Egypt on December 5-7 for the first round and December 14-16 for the second round.

The results of these four constituencies were deemed void by the Egyptian administrative courts.

For the second round of vote, as many as 85 winners of the individual seats belong to political parties and 137 others are independents, he said.

He added that twelve women and 17 young people were among the winners of the individual seats, he added.

Abbas said that all 60 seats for the lists in this round went to "For the Love of Egypt" list that is formed by a retired intelligence general.

The list has also won all 60 party-based seats in the first round of elections.

Egypt has been without a parliament for about three years, as the last one elected in late 2011, months after the ouster of long-time leader Hosni Mubarak, was dissolved in June 2012 by a court order.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has been holding the legislative authority until the election of a new parliament, the third and final phase of the country's future roadmap to democracy. The first and second steps are approving a new constitution and electing a new president.

The new parliament is expected to convene later this month. Endit