Egypt's military ruler has urged his people to vote in Monday's landmark elections even as thousands of protesters are demanding he step down immediately.

In an attempt to rally the public behind his ruling council of generals, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi warned of "extremely grave" consequences if the turbulent nation does not pull through its current crisis.

In comments carried by Egypt's official news agency, Tantawi claimed "foreign hands" were behind the latest wave of unrest, which has filled Cairo's Tahrir Square with protesters for more than a week. He also flatly rejected the calls for him to step down.

In a report from Tahrir Square, CTV's Middle East bureau chief Martin Seemungal said it is clear that most of the demonstrators want the elections to proceed, even if they insist their military rulers be replaced by an interim government.

"These people are not against the elections," said one man. "This is our first chance to have value for our vote."

But one woman noted the mood has been changed by all the violence.

"It's not the same now," she said. "I've lost faith in all the political parties."

During an interview with CTV News Channel, North African Journal deputy editor Alessandro Bruno said the unrest will escalate partly because of the complicated three-step parliamentary election process which takes three months with the results not released until voting ends in March.

"The real revolution could begin now," said Bruno, who said former president Hosni Mubarak was not ousted by the people but by the military, which no longer had use for him.

At least 41 protesters have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded in the nine days of a revival of the protest movement that toppled Mubarak in February.

While Monday's vote was meant to usher in democracy after decades of dictatorship, it has already been marred by the recent demonstrations. With all the chaos in the streets, there are fears the violence could spread to polling stations.

The election is expected to be dominated by the well-organized Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies. Fearful of alienating voters and even disrupting the election, the group has shied away from the anti-military protests.

Once the elections end in March, the military and the Muslim Brotherhood will clearly be at odds. The military has already limited the powers of the next parliament and has suggested it will retain the right to appoint and dismiss the cabinet.

"The next parliament will have no power," predicted accountant Said Younis in Tahrir. "What we want is a salvation government or even a revolutionary government."

The other main duty of parliament -- creating an assembly to draft the next constitution -- may also be largely out of its hands. The military has insisted on keeping the power to name a large part of the assembly.

It is not even clear how long this parliament will survive. Once the multi-stage elections for the two houses conclude, then the constitution must be written and approved by late June. No one has addressed the question of whether the parliament being created now could continue in place under a new constitution or whether a new election would be needed.

While the people in the square are calling for him to step aside, Tantawi said the military will surrender power at an appropriate time, likely after presidential elections next June.

"We will not allow troublemakers to meddle in the elections," said Tantawi, who was Mubarak's defence minister for 20 years. "Egypt is at a crossroads -- either we succeed politically, economically and socially or the consequences will be extremely grave and we will not allow that."

Dismissing criticism of the military rulers failing on security and economic fronts, he claimed the unrest was being fostered by outsiders.

"None of this would have happened if there were no foreign hands," he said. "We will not allow a small minority of people who don't understand to harm Egypt's stability," he said.

With files from CTV's Middle East bureau chief Martin Seemungal and The Associated Press