CAIRO, Nov. 18 (Aswat Masriya) – In less than 72 hours, residents of Egypt's over-populated capital Cairo will head to the polls in the second phase of house elections, amid growing public discontent with rising food prices, and an economy screeching to a halt in the aftermath of the Russian plane crash that has dealt a heavy blow to the country’s vital tourism sector.

Low turnout has marred phase one of the House of Representatives elections which covered 14 provinces including Cairo's twin city Giza, with only 26.5 percent of voters turning up in the first round and about 21 percent casting their ballots in the run-offs.

The country’s largest province, Cairo is home to 9.1 million Egyptians, 7.4 of which are eligible voters. Forty-nine seats are up for grabs in in the capital over which 536 individual candidates are competing in 24 constituencies.

Another 14 seats are allocated to the party lists system where competition is between four lists: frontrunner For the Love of Egypt coalition, which won all 60 party list seats in phase one, the Salafi Nour Party list, the Republican Alliance and the Egyptian Front and Independence Current coalition.   

Campaigning in phase two Cairo began on Nov. 3, when it emerged that the number of individual candidates backed by a political party was conspicuously higher than in most other provinces.

There is also a relatively higher number of women candidates in Cairo, with 17 vying for individual seats across the province.

Not unlike the case in most other provinces, candidates began campaigning before the designated window in violation of rules by the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC).

Cairo also stands out from among other provinces with some alleged members of the Muslim Brotherhood running in the elections, even though the group has publically boycotted the polls.

Formerly the strongest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood had swept the parliamentary polls in 2012 raking over 47 percent of the bicameral parliament which was later dissolved by Egypt’s highest court. Since the military ouster of Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013, the group has been designated a “terrorist organization”, its leaders have been tried in what rights groups have described as kangaroo courts lacking due process and thousands of its members have been arbitrarily arrested and detained.

In Cairo’s Kasr al-Nil, Khalifa and Mokkatam constituencies, members of the now-defunct National Democratic Party (NDP), which dominated political life under ousted President Hosni Mubarak, are making a comeback.

Two ex-NDP members were even implicated in the case publically known as the “Battle of the Camel”, when people riding camels and horses stormed Tahrir Square on Feb. 3, 2011 attacking protesters calling for the ouster of Mubarak during the historic 18-day uprising, leaving at least 13 dead. Like most NDP members accused in this case and in others involving the killing of protesters, these members were acquitted.

With a small showing of 17 candidates, the Salafi Nour party has done very little outdoor campaigning, amid calls by an initiative billed “No to Religious Parties”  aimed at drawing attention to candidates connected with either the Brotherhood or salafi groups.

Voters from 12 other provinces will be going to the polls inside Egypt and aboard from Nov. 21-23. They include Sharqiya, the hometown of Mursi and Menufiya, Mubarak’s birthplace.