Cairo  - Voting for Egyptian local councils got underway Tuesday with only 1,000 of the councils' 52,000 seats being contested between opposition parties and the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

The NPD headed into the elections unopposed for 45,000 seats, while NPD candidates were vying against each other for another 6,000 council seats.

The remaining 1,000 seats were being contested by NPD candidates as well as by those from the opposition political parties Wafd, Nassiry and Tagamo.

Meanwhile the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement was boycotting the vote in protest against a government crackdown against its candidates. Only 20 out of 6,000 Muslim Brotherhood members were accepted as candidates, prompting the group to boycott the election.

Polls close at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT). (dpa)