Polls opened across Egypt on Sunday for a parliamentary election projected to strengthen the ruling party's grip in the country. Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) and are to close at 7:00 pm (1700 GMT), with some 41 million Egyptians eligible to vote. The ruling National Democratic Party is expected to gain the majority of the 508 elected seats and to make further gains when President Hosni Mubarak fills the 10 remaining seats with his appointees. Turnout is likely to be low. Egyptian security forces were on the alert after opposition activists clashed with police at the end of the campaign. The main opposition movement the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups have complained of systemic suppression by the security apparatus, including arrests and banning of ads. The Egyptian authorities have refused to allow international supervision of elections and announced that all monitors will be prohibited from entering polling stations.
