Egyptians vote in 2nd stage of parliamentary elections

According to the higher judiciary elections committee, most of the 2,984 voters who cast their ballots in the first phase of the parliamentary elections in the UAE favoured the candidates of the “In love for Egypt” list.

A total of 282 parliamentary seats will be up for grabbing in the second stage, with 222 seats for independent candidates and 60 seats allocated to party-based lists.

Egyptians yesterday voted across 13 of the country’s 27 provinces in the second phase of parliamentary elections after a low turnout marred the first stage in the absence of any opposition.

Only a dozen voters waited at three polling stations in the capital’s central district of Shubra, AFP reported. The first phase of voting took place last month in 14 provinces with a turnout of almost 27 percent. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi may also appoint up to a further 28 lawmakers. Sissi was elected previous year.

Egyptians mark their ballots inside a polling station during the…

The first round of elections was held in mid-October.

The ouster of Morsi saw a blistering government crackdown targeting his supporters that left more than 1,400 people dead, mostly in the streets of Cairo, and thousands imprisoned. The only young person at the scene was Zeinhom’s daughter, Hagar, whom he said he had to all but physically drag to the center to bring him tea and support his employer. “The government only pays attention to us when they want us to vote. It’s all empty talk”. “It means that the Egyptian people have turned their backs on the elections, despite President Sisi personally calling them to vote”, Nafaa said.

A list of socialist and liberal parties which would have presented the main opposition choice eventually withdrew, leaving the field dominated by Sisi supporters, Mubarak-era figures, provincial notables and businessmen.

A number of policemen at several centers shrugged off the vote-buying claims, dismissing the claims without elaborating. “Nothing ever gets better”, said homemaker Engy Fawzy as she stood outside another Sayeda Zeinab polling station.

“Whether or not I vote, nothing will change”, Ahmed Hassan, 21, who participated in a 2011 popular uprising that forced autocratic President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years in power, told Anadolu Agency.