Friday was a special day for the Egyptian community in Riyadh as Egyptian expatriates in the capital anxiously followed the ballot-counting process in Egypt's landmark presidential elections. Many stayed at home and remained glued to TV screens as they closely followed exit polls. Others crowded coffee shops to discuss the unprecedented elections. “I believe everyone noticed two things about the elections: Hamdeen Sabahi and Ahmed Shafiq were leading,” said Yousif Sulaiman, a community leader. Expat Adel Hanafi said he wasn't surprised Shafiq won so many votes and praised Egyptians for holding a quiet and organized voting process that has won the admiration of observers. Muhammad Al-Jundi, who lived in Al-Kharj, said he also voted for Shafiq and spent all night long praying that Egypt pulls through this ordeal safely. Al-Jundi added that he did not take his family out on Friday because he didn't want to miss “such a historic event which does not happen frequently.” During the past two days, millions of Egyptians flocked to cast their votes in the nation's landmark presidential elections. Thirteen contenders from different backgrounds are competing for the grand prize. The first round of votes were counted on Thursday night and official results are not expected until May 29 though this has not stopped candidates from claiming victories as auxillary stations started publishing their results. Five candidates seem to have performed particularly well according to early results: the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Mursi, Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, Independent Islamist Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, liberal Hamdeen Sabahi and veteran Egyptian diplomat Amr Mousa. The two men with the most votes will contest a second round on June 16-17. It is expected that the overall winner will be announced on June 21. The Muslim Brotherhood predicted Mursi would face off with Shafiq. That would pit the country's two most divisive candidates against each other. Each candidate has repeatedly spoken of the danger if the other becomes president. Many Egyptians believe Shafiq has the support of the ruling military, though it has strongly denied backing any of the candidates. Estimates from official sources suggest that up to 50 percent of the 50 million Egyptians registered to vote had cast their ballots. Moreover, there was a genuine sense of satisfaction that the election process had been handled fairly based on exit interviews conducted at many of the country's 13,000 polling stations. __
