CBS News

CAIRO - Egyptians turned out in large numbers Wednesday for a second round of parliamentary elections with Islamists looking to boost their already overwhelming lead and liberal voters concerned the outcome will push the country in a more religious direction.

Two Islamist blocs won an overwhelming majority, close to 70 percent of seats contested, in the first round on Nov. 28-29, according to an AP tally compiled from official results. The secular and liberal forces that largely drove Egypt's uprising failed to turn their achievement into a victory at the polls and were trounced.

The final two rounds of voting are not expected to dramatically alter the result and could strengthen the Islamists' hand.

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"We have to try Islamic rule to be able to decide if it's good for us," said 60-year-old voter Hussein Khattab an accountant waiting to vote at a polling station near iconic pyramids in Giza province on the western outskirts of Cairo. "If not, we can go back to Tahrir," he said, referring to the Cairo square that was the focus of the uprising in January and February.

He said he planned to vote for the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's most organized and well-known party which was the big winner of the first round with about 47 percent of contested seats.

The election is the first since longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak's Feb. 11 ouster and is the freest and fairest in Egypt's modern history. The parliament will be tasked, in theory, with overseeing the drafting of a new constitution. Still, its actual role remains unclear, as the military council that has ruled since Mubarak's fall has pushed to limit its powers.

So far, many voters have just been happy to participate in a real election after decades of fraud and vote-rigging by Mubarak's party. Lines were so long at some polling stations that vendors set up shop to sell tea and snacks to voters during their wait.

The Islamists' strong showing has raised many questions about the future of a country that has faced deteriorating security and economic free fall since the uprising. The two dominant Islamist groups - the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party and the even more conservative Al-Nour bloc - together took about 68 percent of the seats up for grabs in the first round.

The Brotherhood faces its stiffest competition from Al-Nour, the party of Salafi Muslims whose ultraconservative interpretation of Islam is similar to that practiced in Saudi Arabia. Al-Nour bloc won an unexpectedly strong 21 percent of seats in the first round.

The Brotherhood is sending mixed messages about how strongly it will push to limit personal freedom's such as women's dress. Some have tried to assure the public they do not intend to strictly impose Islamic law, or Shariah. But other Brotherhood leaders have indicated a more hard-line direction, for example by suggesting tourists don't need to drink alcohol while they are here.

The Salafis say openly they will push for Islamic law to be strictly enforced, and some have railed against tourists who wear bikinis at beach resorts popular with foreigners. At a recent campaign rally in the coastal city of Alexandria, Salafis covered mermaids statues with cloth.

Some voters worried about the growing clout of Islamists turned out to support the liberal and secular parties that performed poorly in the first round. The liberal Egyptian Bloc came in third with nine percent.

"I was worried about all their statements about sex segregation, tourism and beaches," said Giza voter Omniya Fikry.

Egypt's economic situation has declined rapidly, with unrest scaring away foreign investors and tourists, one of the country's prime sources of income. Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri broke into tears in front of journalists this week while talking about the economy, calling it "worse than anyone imagines."

Some fear Islamist success will hamper recovery.

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