Andrew Dubois

Staff Writer

   On November 28th, the Egyptian people hit the polls for the first time since former President Hosni Mubarak was forced out of power in February. They are voting to decide which of the political candidates will get into the parliament.

    The head of the higher election committee Judge Addel Moez Ibrahim said that he had received orders from the administrative court requesting that the elections to be canceled due to violence. Ibrahim said that thugs had destroyed the car of one of the judges and stolen ballots. However, the request was denied and the elections continued as scheduled.

    The results of the election seem to indicate that the Egyptian people favor the more conservative Islamist parties causing some international concern. Many outsiders fear the Islamist parties have ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. The current military rulers have stated that in order to protect their country they will control the process of writing a constitution and maintain authority during the transition in order to check the power of the Islamists who have taken a lead in the parliamentary elections.

    One of the key issues in the election is the tense relations with Israel. The new parliament will decide how to proceed with Israel. The Israeli prime minister issued a statement saying, "I hope that whichever government takes power in Egypt would recognize the importance of maintaining the peace agreement with Israel." The elections are set to be a milestone in Egyptian history. One that will hopefully usher in a new age for the country.