Alexandria, Egypt’s coastal second city, was swept with rain on Monday, but that didn't dampen turnout on the first day of Egypt’s marathon elections for both houses of parliament.
The city is a contradiction, a Mediterranean enclave of creaking pensions-turned-hotels, with stocks of Stella beer in the back rooms, but whose new political face is likely to be thoroughly Islamist.
The Muslim Brotherhood has traditionally enjoyed strength here, and the most prominent of the post-revolution Salafi groups, the Nour Party, was born in Alexandria.
These forces were on display on Monday, as the brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) flexed its organisational muscles street by street, and Salafis expressed calm confidence in their chances.
![[QODLink]](http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2012/5/24/2012524105149565734_16.jpg "The Brotherhood and Mubarak")
