Egypt’s legislative polls lack enough voters

A political alliance loyal to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has scooped all 60 list seats up for grabs in the first round of a parliamentary election, official results showed.

A few 27,402,353 voters were eligible to cast their ballot in the first round of the polls, which were held in half of Egypt’s 27 provinces.

“This adds to his mandate and takes away from that of the parliament”.

Finally, all Egyptians I spoke with were fully aware that Egypt has left its path to democracy and has fully restored autocracy.

The parliament members are important as they represent their communities and areas and are expected to work hard to raise and solve crucial concerns and issues of Egyptians.

Security forces have killed hundreds of Islamists and arrested thousands of others since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Brotherhood in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

Sisi won 97 per cent of the presidential vote in mid-2014 with an official turnout of 47.5pc after elections were extended to a third day following a slow start. The parliament never played a crucial role in Egypt’s history, and its standing among Egypt’s population has never been very high. “They have to take place, but this political dispensation was always more interested in the presidential and constitutional votes”. It must approve all laws.

Yet ahead of elections, speculation was rife that the new parliament would revise the constitution to curb a few of those powers and hand prerogatives back to the presidency.

Reuters reported low turnout and “little enthusiasm” by late afternoon local time, saying most Sisi political opponents and critics are “behind bars”.

A total of 596 seats are up for grabs, including 448 individual seats, 120 on party lists and 28 mandates to be selected by President Sisi. No one against Hosni Mubarak is running for office.

In outcome, voters in many constituencies see no credible alternatives, but may choose from various candidates with the same, pro-governmental attitude; already 50 percent of all 5,500 candidates are former members of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, and nearly all candidates support the current regime.

A list of socialist and liberal parties eventually withdrew, leaving the field dominated by Sisi supporters.