Egypt's military ruler is urging voters to head to the polls tomorrow for the start of parliamentary elections, despite the chaos that's been seen in the streets of Cairo over the past nine days.
Protesters have been demanding that the ruling military council hand over power to a civilian government immediately.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi claims that "foreign hands" have been behind the unrest and vows that "troublemakers" will not be allowed to "meddle in the elections." He says Egypt is "at a crossroads" and the country will either "succeed politically, economically and socially" or face "extremely grave" consequences.
Voters will begin choosing a 498-member parliament in the first elections since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February in a popular uprising. The voting will be carried out in a three stages, continuing through Jan. 3. Final results are scheduled to be announced 10 days later.
The parliament's main task will be to form a committee of 100 people to draft a new constitution.
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