Egyptians to vote in upper house election January 29, 2012 -- Updated 0708 GMT (1508 HKT) Voters will cast ballots for the upper house of parliament, the Shura council The election comes after the Muslim Brotherhood dominates the lower house poll The full parliament must appoint a 100-member panel to write a new constitution Egypt's military retains much of the decision-making power Cairo (CNN) -- Egyptians in Cairo and several cities vote Sunday in the first stage of elections for the upper house of parliament. Voters will cast ballots for the Shura council over different days at various governorates nationwide. They come after the Muslim Brotherhood dominated the lower house poll in Egypt's first election since protesters toppled former President Hosni Mubarak last year following decades of authoritarian rule. In the lower house parliamentary elections, Islamist parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood performed more strongly than the liberal parties representing some protesters. Two Islamist parties won about 70% of the seats in the lower house of parliament poll, according to electoral commission figures. Earlier this month, Egypt's military rulers said they handed legislative powers to the lower house, marking the first parliament in the country's history to be dominated by Islamists. But the country's influential military, which stepped into the vacuum as Mubarak teetered last year, retains much of the decision-making power and has said it will continue to until a new government is in place. The full parliament must appoint a 100-member panel to write a new constitution. Egypt's revolution last year led to the ouster of Mubarak after 30 years. It came on the heels of Tunisia's revolt that led to the ouster of that country's leader in January 2011. Since then, protests against longtime rulers swept across North Africa and the Middle East, including uprisings in Libya, Yemen and Syria. The ailing Mubarak is on trial on charges of corruption and ordering the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the clashes that led to his downfall. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report January 26, 2012 -- Updated 1545 GMT (2345 HKT) Thousands of Egyptians filled Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday, exactly one year after the start of the revolution that ousted longtime Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak. January 25, 2012 -- Updated 1948 GMT (0348 HKT) The protests in Egypt that toppled Hosni Mubarak began one year ago today. But some are asking now: What's the difference? It's been a year since the mass protests started in Egypt but one author says the seeds of revolution were sown years ago. Many Egyptians wonder if the revolution amounted to nothing more than a military coup, writes Aladdin Elaasar, a former professor and author. January 23, 2012 -- Updated 2327 GMT (0727 HKT) On Monday, the Egyptian parliament convened, the first time since former President Hosni Mubarak's ouster last year. January 22, 2012 -- Updated 1214 GMT (2014 HKT) Egypt's first democratically elected parliament is to meet Monday - but that is not the end of the country's revolution. A look at some of the moments from the first 18 days of upheaval in Egypt that culminated in political change. Egypt's top political parties have agreed to nominate a member of the Muslim Brotherhood as the nation's next parliament speaker, the first time in decades that an Islamist would hold that post.