Generals cling to power as Egypt votes

EGYPTIANS voted in droves in the first election since the fall of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, giving Islamists a chance to make political gains even as the army generals who replaced him cling to power.

Turnout in the country’s first free poll in decades was high but, despite voters’ enthusiasm, concern still lingered that the military was more focused on preserving its privilege and power than on nurturing democratic transformation.

Frustration erupted last week into violent protests that cost 42 lives, mostly around Cairo’s Tahrir Square, centre of the popular uprising that forced the end of Mubarak’s 30-year-rule in February.