Egypt's Parliamentary Elections Held Without Strong Opposition Parties

The second phase of Egypt's parliamentary elections is taking place on Sunday in 13 out of 27 provinces. The first phase of the elections was held in late October without the participation of strong opposition parties, with about 27% voter turnout. According to AFP, polling stations opened early Sunday in 13 provinces, including Cairo, where only a few voters queued at three polling stations in central Cairo. The second phase of the elections will take place over two days, Sunday and Monday, during which candidates will compete for 222 individual seats and 60 remaining seats from party lists; the final results will be announced in late December. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who became Egypt's president in the 2014 presidential elections, one year after the military overthrew Mohamed Morsi, described these parliamentary elections as the 'cornerstone' of establishing democracy in the country. At that time, Sisi was the Minister of Defense in Morsi's government. The first parliamentary elections in Egypt after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, following widespread protests, were held in 2011, with the first phase witnessing a 62% voter turnout and the Muslim Brotherhood winning about half of the seats. However, that parliament was dissolved in the summer of 2012 by court order amid rising tensions between Morsi's government and the military, as well as conflicts among moderate factions of the Muslim Brotherhood with Islamist and secular parties, alongside ongoing crises and violence. Since then, Egypt has been without a parliament, and the current elections are being held to form a new one. In the first phase, which took place on October 18 and 19 in 14 provinces, only 26.6% of eligible voters participated. Voter turnout in the subsequent voting days was even lower, at about 21.7%. The Egyptian parliament has 568 seats, and elections are held in two phases over two days with several months apart. In each phase, if it is not clear which candidates have obtained the necessary majority to enter parliament, a second round of voting will take place a few days later to elect the remaining representatives. Of the 568 seats, 448 representatives are elected individually, 120 are based on party lists, and 28 representatives can be appointed by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. These elections are taking place while Mohamed Morsi and several leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to death after trial for their involvement in violence, and the Muslim Brotherhood has been declared a 'terrorist' organization, with many of its members imprisoned and barred from participating in elections. According to Reuters, socialist and liberal parties that initially intended to participate later announced they would not. Some secular parties are participating but have been unable to operate under suitable conditions. In the first phase of the parliamentary elections last October, a coalition called 'For the Love of Egypt,' led by Samah Seif el-Yazal, a former intelligence officer supportive of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, entered the elections with a list of 60 candidates, winning all seats, and it is expected to gain another 60 seats in the elections on Sunday and Monday. Since 2011, three constitutional referendums have also been held in Egypt.