CAIRO, Oct. 26 (Aswat Masriya) - Run-offs of the first phase of elections abroad commenced Monday morning at 139 Egyptian embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions where Egyptian ambassadors noted "weak" participation. 

Ambassadors attributed the weak turnout to the working hours and bad weather conditions in some of the countries. 

There was no voting in Syria, Libya and Central Africa because of internal conflicts that posed safety concerns. 

The first round of elections abroad saw a turnout of 4.5 percent, 30,531 Egyptians of a total of more than 680,000 eligible voters.

The Egyptian Ambassadors in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE explained that they expected turnout to improve later in the day especially after working hours. 

In Belgium, an official in the embassy noted the low turnout, saying that only 3 voters cast their vote since the morning but expected higher numbers towards the evening. 

Egypt's consul in Istanbul described the second round of elections as "calm".

The first round saw a turnout rate of 26.56 percent out of a total of 27.4 million eligible voters in 14 provinces including Cairo's twin city, Giza. 

The run-offs inside Egypt are scheduled to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.