Millions of Egyptians began heading to polls Saturday to determine the country’s future course in a highly divisive presidential election.
The vote pits Mohamed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, against Ahmed Shafiq, a former military man and insider of the deposed regime of President Hosni Mubarak.
It follows decisions by the military and judiciary to dissolve the Brotherhood-dominated parliament and wipe away much of the democratic progress in the 16 months since an uprising toppled Mr Mubarak’s 30-year reign.
Witnesses and polling station workers reported mixed turnout, with long lines in some areas and deserted election centres elsewhere.
In the impoverished Shubra district of the capital, where Coptic Christians side by side with pious Muslims, voters were split along ideological lines. Some Egyptians fear the Brotherhood’s Islamist agenda while others despise Mr Shafiq as a standard bearer of the former regime.
‘We vote for stability and democracy,” said Ferians Labib-Hanna, a 65-year-old who supports Shafiq.
“It’s totally divided,” said one Morsi supporter.

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