Egyptian parliamentary election, 2005
Encyclopedia
The Egyptian parliamentary elections of 2005 was the scheduled three-stage elections in November and December 2005 for determining its lower house
membership. The elections formed the Eighth Assembly since the adoption of the 1971 Constitution
. Over 7,000 candidates competed in 222 constituencies for the Assembly's 444 elected seats.
They were viewed as yet another test to the current wave of political reform, occurring only 2 months after the first multi-candidate presidential elections. Although the ruling National Democratic Party
(NDP) maintained its majority and control of the Assembly, large gains were made by others at the expense of the NDP.
Further importance is attached to these elections as a party must achieve 5% of the seats in the Assembly to field a candidate in the next Egyptian presidential elections in 2011.
The role of the police
is restricted to maintaining peace and order at the polling stations without interference in the voting process or entering the voting stations.
, Giza, al-Minufiyah, Bani Suwayf, Asyut
, al-Minya, Matruh
and al-Wadi al-Jadid
, al-Buhayrah
, al-Isma'iliyah
, Bur Sa'id, as-Suways
, al-Qalyubiyah, al-Gharbiyah
, al-Fayyum and Qina
.
, Kafr ash Shaykh, Dimyat, Suhaj
, Aswan
, al-Bahr al-Ahmar, South Sinai
and North Sinai
.
The results are announced on a constituency basis following the vote count.
resulted in the following seat distribution in the Seventh Assembly:
It should be noted that initially the NDP scored only 40% of the seats, but many independents switched their political affiliation back to NDP giving it its soaring majority.
. In case of run-offs, it restarts the day following the results day to end the day before election day.
Campaign expenditures are limited to not more than 70,000 Egyptian pound
s, with restrictions of any foreign financial assistance or endorsements. Restrictions are also put on using public utilities (transportation, buildings, public sector companies, as well as companies with government-owned shares).
.
and the governmental National Council for Human Rights
(NCHR). Over 30 human rights organizations, civil society
groups and NGOs pledged to monitor the elections.
The judiciary asked the civil society organizations to form a "National Authority for monitoring elections" that would monitor the elections. Also this authority would replace the wooden ballot box
es with transparent ones (this was done this year), put surveillance cameras inside the polling stations that would provide constant monitoring of the election process (currently under study and is done partially by the media) and to air the vote count live on state television.
gives it even more importance in the Egyptian political arena. Some other issues include the potential amendments promised to the constitution, and the introduction of more laws to political and economic reform.
won 112 seats (around 75%), the secular political parties a total 5 seats and the independents a total of 47 seats. Of the winning 47 independents, 34 are Muslim Brotherhood
candidates which is considered to be a major surprise in this election. By this, the Brotherhood doubled its presence in the Assembly in only the first stage.
As in previous elections, many independents have switched their political affiliation after the results were announced and joined the NDP roster. According to official records, 2 300 000 registered voters have cast their votes, resulting in a turnout of around 23%.
Run-offs were held in 74 constituencies over 133 seats, with the number of registered voters reaching 9,990,550 registered voters, with a turnout of around 23%.
The run-offs resulted in the winning of 85 NDP
candidates, 2 New Wafd Party
candidates, 2 Progressive National Unionist Party candidates, one Tomorrow Party
candidate and 43 independent candidates
This stage has resulted in following distribution of 164 seats:
Of the most prominent politicians who lost in the elections are Ayman Nour
, Tomorrow Party
leader and the presidential candidate in the Egyptian Presidential election in September 2005, since arrested for corruption, also NDP's major reformer Hossam ElBadrawy, Amin Mubarak and long-time serving Fayda Kamel, and New Wafd's most prominent Copt
ic figure Monir Fakhri Abdel Nour
.
There are officially 158 reported election law violations. However, other sources have not yet issued any reports concerning the actual number of violations. There had been incidents of violence and bribery, but the NGO's have not yet issued official statements.
Following the 1st round of elections on Sunday November 20, only 23 seats were determined conclusively; the rest went into a runoff vote. They took place on Saturday November 26, when 242 candidates competed for 121 seats in 68 constituencies, of which 53 were two-seat constituencies and 15 single seat.
The run-off elections were intensely competitive and violent, with a single demonstrator and NDP supporter dead. More than 800 Muslim Brotherhood members were arrested, when the police tried stopping the violence that broke out between the supporters of different candidates. Some have reported the violence from the police reached the judiciaries who were monitoring the voting. Some of the political groups and parties have even called for the Egyptian Army to go to the streets to protect the election.
Final results were announced on Monday, November 28. The NDP won a total 90 seats (after some of the winning candidates joined the party following their victory), 46 Independent candidates (of which 42 are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, raising the group's number of seats to a total of 76 seats) and 2 more seats for the New Wafd Party party.
Also the elections have resulted in many surprise victories and losses.
Founder Khalid Muhi ad Din of the Tagamu Party lost his seat. Khalid was a long-time serving legislator and an ex-candidate in the 2005 presidential election before the party boycotted the elections. Also two more leading party figures, ElBadry Farghaly and Abo ElEzz ElHarirri lost their seats. The party secured no seats in this stage.
The NDP's former Agriculture minister and former Deputy NDP Chairman, Yousef Wali, also lost his seat.
NDP's candidate, long-time serving Assemblyman and leader of the Egyptian Labor Union, Sayed Rashed. Rashed is known for his passionate support for the NDP's leader, Hosni Mubarak.
Former Egyptian soccer metnak and sports commentator, Ahmed Shobeer won as an NDP candidate in the run-offs as well.
[edit]3rd
. The NDP had achieved over half the seats despite its bad performance, and speculations still predicted that the NDP will retain at least 70% of the parliament seats which they narrowly missed.
The run-off elections were held on Wednesday December 7 over the remaining 127 seats. Eleven seats went to the Muslim Brotherhood, and NDP took 111 leaving 5 still up in the air.
The results in some constituencies are yet to be announced and 12 seats will be contested in further run-offs.
Violence spread during this stage of elections, causing many injuries and the deaths of 9 opposition supporters, according to independent sources.
The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights said the deaths came during "clashes with security forces which cordoned off polling stations to prevent voters from voting".
The appointed are:
The ruling NDP won at least 311 seats, significantly less than the 404 seats it gained in 2000, but just nine seats over the crucial two-thirds parliamentary majority (around 302 seats) required to amend the constitution.
Opposition Parties and other non-affiliated independents have collectively won the around 36 seats. With the results from some constituencies to be announced later, and seven candidates standing in run-offs, the group may make further gains.
A total of 432 members of the outgoing assembly (around 77.5%) lost their seats in the elections.
(MB) number of seats. The MB presently constitute the largest opposition bloc in the parliament. They obtained these seats without having a clear program or policy, running on one slogan, "Islam is the solution".
Worries about the Brotherhood is gripping the Copts as well as Muslim moderates and in secular circles, as the MB's agenda still remains vague.
Many argue that with the MB now in the legislature rather than the underground, it will have to bring its ideas in full to the public domain, where their views will be subject to debate, criticism, revision and the transformation of its most extreme ideas to more secular ones, making the group more accustomed to the political game. These intellectuals argue that repressing religious currents does not weaken them, but instead strengthens them. The results of this election seemed to signal the emergence of the MB from being a popular underground organization to a civil political party.
as one of the sources of legislation and Islam
as the state religion
, then the slogan is in line with the constitution and is not a violation.
Even though the NDP launched extensive campaigns that aimed at decreasing the support of this slogan and claiming the separation of the state and religion, the NDP itself as well as other groups have used either Islamic or Coptic religious figures in support of their programs.
Some analysts fear that such introduction of religion into politics would threaten reform towards a secular and liberal country as well as potentially alienating its Coptic population.
The major political parties formed the United National Front for Change (UNFC), which provided ambiguous programmes for political and constitutional reform yet without any connection with grassroots constituencies, resulting in wholesale losses for its fielded candidates.
The political failure doesn't only involve the opposition but also the NDP. The NDP has lost over 100 of its seats with some of its top influential reform figures as well as long-serving political figures in this election. The NDP has also failed to "get out the vote
". The low turnout which is estimated to be around 25% as well as the fact that around half of the MB votes were protest votes against the NDP's power monopoly.
The NDP still maintains a comfortable hold of 68% of the Assembly seats, which shall enable it to push through its program. However, many say now that it won't be as smooth as before.
Analysts predict inevitable clashes between the NDP and MB over policy. The assembly may quickly find itself hamstrung, in which case it might well be dissolved by the president
. There had been calls from across the political spectrum that the only way out of the current impasse is to establish a new political party capable of staking out the middle ground between the NDP and MB.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg
A number of amendments are thought to be at the head of the reform agenda. Some concern political practices, political parties law, citizenship rights, revocation of the ancient state of emergency
and more democratization of the Egyptian political process. These reforms were personally announced by President Mubarak, and were at the center of the NDP official presidential and parliamentary election campaigns.
Lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
membership. The elections formed the Eighth Assembly since the adoption of the 1971 Constitution
Constitution of Egypt
The Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt was the fundamental law of Egypt. It was adopted on September 11, 1971 through a public referendum. It was later amended in 1980, 2005 and 2007. It was proclaimed to update the democratic representative system in assertion of the rule of law,...
. Over 7,000 candidates competed in 222 constituencies for the Assembly's 444 elected seats.
They were viewed as yet another test to the current wave of political reform, occurring only 2 months after the first multi-candidate presidential elections. Although the ruling National Democratic Party
National Democratic Party (Egypt)
The National Democratic Party , often simply called Al-Ḥizb al-Waṭaniy – the "National Party", was an Egyptian political party. It was founded by President Anwar El Sadat in 1978....
(NDP) maintained its majority and control of the Assembly, large gains were made by others at the expense of the NDP.
Further importance is attached to these elections as a party must achieve 5% of the seats in the Assembly to field a candidate in the next Egyptian presidential elections in 2011.
Election process
The election process ran in the three stages from November 7 to December 9, 2005 using single member plurality, with over 32 million registered voters in the 222 constituencies. Official registration for the candidates began on October 12, 2005.The role of the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
is restricted to maintaining peace and order at the polling stations without interference in the voting process or entering the voting stations.
1st
Ran on Wednesday November 9, with run-off elections on Tuesday November 15 with 10.7 million registered voters covering 8 Egyptian governorates: CairoCairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Giza, al-Minufiyah, Bani Suwayf, Asyut
Asyut
Asyut is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt; the ancient city of the same name is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city is at .- Etymology :...
, al-Minya, Matruh
Matruh
Matrouh Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. Located in the north-western part of the country, it borders Libya. Its capital is Marsa Matrouh.-Overview:...
and al-Wadi al-Jadid
2nd
Ran on Sunday November 20, with run-off elections on Saturday November 26 with 10.5 million registered voters covering 9 Egyptian governorates: AlexandriaAlexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, al-Buhayrah
Al Buhayrah Governorate
Beheira Governorate is a coastal governorate in Egypt. Located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, its capital is Damanhur.-Overview:Beheira governorate enjoys an important strategical place, west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile...
, al-Isma'iliyah
Al Isma'iliyah Governorate
Ismailia Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. Located in the north-eastern part of the country, its capital is the city of Ismailia.-External links:* Official website...
, Bur Sa'id, as-Suways
As Suways Governorate
Suez Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country and is coterminous with the city of Suez...
, al-Qalyubiyah, al-Gharbiyah
Al Gharbiyah Governorate
Gharbia Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north of the country, south of Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate, and north of Monufia Governorate. Its capital is Tanta, which is 90 km north of Cairo, and 120 km south east of Alexandria. The largest city in Gharbia is...
, al-Fayyum and Qina
Qina
Qena is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, it was known as Kaine during the Greco-Roman period and as Cainepolis in antiquity.- Overview :...
.
3rd
Ran on Thursday December 1, with run-off elections on Wednesday December 7 with 10.6 million registered voters covering 9 Egyptian governorates: ad-Daqahliyah, ash-SharqiyahAsh Sharqiyah Governorate
Sharqia Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. Located in the northern part of the country, its capital is the city of Zagazig.-Cities:* Abu Kabeer* Belbeis* Faqous* Hehya* Kafr Saqr* Menya Al Qamh* Zaqaziq* Abu Hammad-Notable people:...
, Kafr ash Shaykh, Dimyat, Suhaj
Suhaj
Sohag , also known as Sawhāj, Suhag and Suhaj, is a city in Egypt that lies on the west bank of the Nile. It has been the capital of Sohag Governorate since 1960. Prior to that, the capital was the city of Girga and the name of the governorate was Girga Governorate...
, Aswan
Aswan
Aswan , formerly spelled Assuan, is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate.It stands on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract and is a busy market and tourist centre...
, al-Bahr al-Ahmar, South Sinai
Janub Sina'
South Sinai Governorate is the least populated governorate of Egypt. It is located in the east of the country, encompassing the southern half of the Sinai Peninsula.-Cities:* Dahab* El-Tor* Nuweiba* Saint Catherine* Sharm el-Sheikh* Taba...
and North Sinai
Shamal Sina'
North Sinai Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. Located in the eastern part of the country, it encompasses the northern half of the Sinai Peninsula. Its capital is the city of Arish.-External links:* Official website...
.
The results are announced on a constituency basis following the vote count.
Pre-election seating
The current number of seats in the Assembly is 454, the 2000 legislative electionEgyptian parliamentary election, 2000
Parliamentary elections were held in Egypt in three stages between 18 October and 8 November 2000. The election was broken into stages after a July ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court that that judges must monitor all polling stations...
resulted in the following seat distribution in the Seventh Assembly:
- National Democratic PartyNational Democratic Party (Egypt)The National Democratic Party , often simply called Al-Ḥizb al-Waṭaniy – the "National Party", was an Egyptian political party. It was founded by President Anwar El Sadat in 1978....
(NDP) - 417 - New Wafd PartyNew Wafd PartyThe New Wafd Party is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt.It is the extension of one of the oldest and historically most active political parties in Egypt, Wafd Party, which was dismantled after the 1952 Revolution. The New Wafd was re-established in 1983...
- 6 - Progressive National Unionist Party - 5
- Arab Democratic Nasserist Party - 1
- Liberal Party - 1
- Independents - 14
- Non-Elected Members - 10
It should be noted that initially the NDP scored only 40% of the seats, but many independents switched their political affiliation back to NDP giving it its soaring majority.
Electoral Campaigns
Officially, the campaign period starts immediately after the announcement of the final list of candidates and ends one day before election dayElection Day (politics)
Election Day refers to the day when general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate, while in other countries elections are always held on a weekday...
. In case of run-offs, it restarts the day following the results day to end the day before election day.
Campaign expenditures are limited to not more than 70,000 Egyptian pound
Egyptian pound
The Egyptian Pound is the currency of Egypt. It is divided into 100 Qirsh , or 1,000 Milliemes ....
s, with restrictions of any foreign financial assistance or endorsements. Restrictions are also put on using public utilities (transportation, buildings, public sector companies, as well as companies with government-owned shares).
Opposition parties and groups
There were 8 recognised political parties covering a broad political spectrum and various pressure groups such as Kifaya Movement and the Muslim BrotherhoodMuslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
.
Monitoring
The official monitors of the elections are the judiciaryJudiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
and the governmental National Council for Human Rights
National Council for Human Rights
National Council for Human Rights is an Egyptian human rights organization established in 2003 with a mission of promoting and maintaining human rights in Egypt. The President of the NCHR is former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who has held the position since the organization's...
(NCHR). Over 30 human rights organizations, civil society
Civil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
groups and NGOs pledged to monitor the elections.
The judiciary asked the civil society organizations to form a "National Authority for monitoring elections" that would monitor the elections. Also this authority would replace the wooden ballot box
Ballot box
A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually square box though sometimes a tamper resistant bag, with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot paper in an election but which prevents anyone from accessing the votes cast until the close of the voting period...
es with transparent ones (this was done this year), put surveillance cameras inside the polling stations that would provide constant monitoring of the election process (currently under study and is done partially by the media) and to air the vote count live on state television.
Issues
The main concern during the election was not on certain electoral programs or campaigns but rather on how much the oppositions will gain which push for more reform in the future and pave the way for more balance of power in the Egyptian politics. The relevance of this year's elections to the 2011 presidential electionEgyptian presidential election, 2011
A presidential election is expected to be held in Egypt in March or April 2012. It will be the second even remotely competitive presidential election in Egypt's history, following the 2005 election and presidential confirmation referendums in 1999, 1993, and earlier...
gives it even more importance in the Egyptian political arena. Some other issues include the potential amendments promised to the constitution, and the introduction of more laws to political and economic reform.
1st
Out of 164 seats, the NDPNational Democratic Party (Egypt)
The National Democratic Party , often simply called Al-Ḥizb al-Waṭaniy – the "National Party", was an Egyptian political party. It was founded by President Anwar El Sadat in 1978....
won 112 seats (around 75%), the secular political parties a total 5 seats and the independents a total of 47 seats. Of the winning 47 independents, 34 are Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
candidates which is considered to be a major surprise in this election. By this, the Brotherhood doubled its presence in the Assembly in only the first stage.
As in previous elections, many independents have switched their political affiliation after the results were announced and joined the NDP roster. According to official records, 2 300 000 registered voters have cast their votes, resulting in a turnout of around 23%.
Run-offs were held in 74 constituencies over 133 seats, with the number of registered voters reaching 9,990,550 registered voters, with a turnout of around 23%.
The run-offs resulted in the winning of 85 NDP
National Democratic Party (Egypt)
The National Democratic Party , often simply called Al-Ḥizb al-Waṭaniy – the "National Party", was an Egyptian political party. It was founded by President Anwar El Sadat in 1978....
candidates, 2 New Wafd Party
New Wafd Party
The New Wafd Party is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt.It is the extension of one of the oldest and historically most active political parties in Egypt, Wafd Party, which was dismantled after the 1952 Revolution. The New Wafd was re-established in 1983...
candidates, 2 Progressive National Unionist Party candidates, one Tomorrow Party
Tomorrow Party
The el-Ghad Party is an active political party in Egypt that was granted license in October 2004. El-Ghad is a centrist liberal secular political party pressing for widening the scope of political participation and for a peaceful rotation of power....
candidate and 43 independent candidates
This stage has resulted in following distribution of 164 seats:
- NDPNational Democratic Party (Egypt)The National Democratic Party , often simply called Al-Ḥizb al-Waṭaniy – the "National Party", was an Egyptian political party. It was founded by President Anwar El Sadat in 1978....
— 112 seats - New Wafd PartyNew Wafd PartyThe New Wafd Party is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt.It is the extension of one of the oldest and historically most active political parties in Egypt, Wafd Party, which was dismantled after the 1952 Revolution. The New Wafd was re-established in 1983...
— 2 seats - Progressive National Unionist Party — 2 seats
- Tomorrow PartyTomorrow PartyThe el-Ghad Party is an active political party in Egypt that was granted license in October 2004. El-Ghad is a centrist liberal secular political party pressing for widening the scope of political participation and for a peaceful rotation of power....
— 1 seat - Independents — 47 seats
- (Muslim Brotherhood — 34 seats of those)
Of the most prominent politicians who lost in the elections are Ayman Nour
Ayman Nour
Ayman Abd El Aziz Nour is an Egyptian politician, a former member of the Egyptian Parliament and chairman of the El Ghad party.He was imprisoned in January 2005 by the government of President Hosni Mubarak. Nour was released on health grounds on February 18, 2009...
, Tomorrow Party
Tomorrow Party
The el-Ghad Party is an active political party in Egypt that was granted license in October 2004. El-Ghad is a centrist liberal secular political party pressing for widening the scope of political participation and for a peaceful rotation of power....
leader and the presidential candidate in the Egyptian Presidential election in September 2005, since arrested for corruption, also NDP's major reformer Hossam ElBadrawy, Amin Mubarak and long-time serving Fayda Kamel, and New Wafd's most prominent Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic figure Monir Fakhri Abdel Nour
Monir Fakhri Abdel Nour
Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour is an Egyptian politician. He is the Secretary-General of the Wafd Party and has been Minister of Tourism since 22 February 2011.- See also :*Cabinet of Egypt*List of Egyptians...
.
There are officially 158 reported election law violations. However, other sources have not yet issued any reports concerning the actual number of violations. There had been incidents of violence and bribery, but the NGO's have not yet issued official statements.
Following the 1st round of elections on Sunday November 20, only 23 seats were determined conclusively; the rest went into a runoff vote. They took place on Saturday November 26, when 242 candidates competed for 121 seats in 68 constituencies, of which 53 were two-seat constituencies and 15 single seat.
The run-off elections were intensely competitive and violent, with a single demonstrator and NDP supporter dead. More than 800 Muslim Brotherhood members were arrested, when the police tried stopping the violence that broke out between the supporters of different candidates. Some have reported the violence from the police reached the judiciaries who were monitoring the voting. Some of the political groups and parties have even called for the Egyptian Army to go to the streets to protect the election.
Final results were announced on Monday, November 28. The NDP won a total 90 seats (after some of the winning candidates joined the party following their victory), 46 Independent candidates (of which 42 are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, raising the group's number of seats to a total of 76 seats) and 2 more seats for the New Wafd Party party.
Also the elections have resulted in many surprise victories and losses.
Founder Khalid Muhi ad Din of the Tagamu Party lost his seat. Khalid was a long-time serving legislator and an ex-candidate in the 2005 presidential election before the party boycotted the elections. Also two more leading party figures, ElBadry Farghaly and Abo ElEzz ElHarirri lost their seats. The party secured no seats in this stage.
The NDP's former Agriculture minister and former Deputy NDP Chairman, Yousef Wali, also lost his seat.
NDP's candidate, long-time serving Assemblyman and leader of the Egyptian Labor Union, Sayed Rashed. Rashed is known for his passionate support for the NDP's leader, Hosni Mubarak.
Former Egyptian soccer metnak and sports commentator, Ahmed Shobeer won as an NDP candidate in the run-offs as well.
[edit]3rd
3rd
The final stage of the election took place on Thursday December 1, over 136 seats in 68 constituencies; 9 seats were decided: with 8 for NDP and 1 for the New Wafd PartyNew Wafd Party
The New Wafd Party is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt.It is the extension of one of the oldest and historically most active political parties in Egypt, Wafd Party, which was dismantled after the 1952 Revolution. The New Wafd was re-established in 1983...
. The NDP had achieved over half the seats despite its bad performance, and speculations still predicted that the NDP will retain at least 70% of the parliament seats which they narrowly missed.
The run-off elections were held on Wednesday December 7 over the remaining 127 seats. Eleven seats went to the Muslim Brotherhood, and NDP took 111 leaving 5 still up in the air.
The results in some constituencies are yet to be announced and 12 seats will be contested in further run-offs.
Violence spread during this stage of elections, causing many injuries and the deaths of 9 opposition supporters, according to independent sources.
The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights said the deaths came during "clashes with security forces which cordoned off polling stations to prevent voters from voting".
10 Appointed Seats
On 12 December 2005 President Mubarak exercised his constitutional right by appointing 10 members of the Assembly. Of the appointed, five are men, five are women and four are Copts.The appointed are:
- Mohamed Dakrouri, Advisor to the President
- Ahmed Omar Hashem, former chairman of Al-Azhar UniversityAl-Azhar UniversityAl-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...
- Edward Ghali El-Dahabi, lawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
- Ramzi El-Shaer, former president of Zagazig UniversityZagazig UniversityZagazig University is an Egyptian university in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Ash Sharqiyah governorate.The current president of the university is Professor Dr Maher El-Domiaty.- Faculties :*Faculty of Pharmacy’’’ كلية الصيدلة’’’....
and professor of constitutional lawConstitutional lawConstitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.... - Iskandar Ghattas, assistant to the Justice Minister
- Zeinab Radwan, former dean of Cairo UniversityCairo UniversityCairo University is a public university located in Giza, Egypt.The university was founded on December 21, 1908, as the result of an effort to establish a national center for educational thought...
's faculty of ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and Islamic Studies (Became Deputy Speaker) - Georgette Sobhi, member of National Council for Women
- Ibrahim Habib, chairman of the Public Notary Authority
- Siadah Ilhami, sociologist
- Sanaa El-Banna, chairman of the Petrochemical Holding Company
Overall Results
The banned Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidates stood as independents, now have a record 87 seats in the 454 seat Assembly, almost six times the number it had before. They believe they were entitled to more seats and say that rigging and intimidation led to their being beaten in some constituencies.The ruling NDP won at least 311 seats, significantly less than the 404 seats it gained in 2000, but just nine seats over the crucial two-thirds parliamentary majority (around 302 seats) required to amend the constitution.
Opposition Parties and other non-affiliated independents have collectively won the around 36 seats. With the results from some constituencies to be announced later, and seven candidates standing in run-offs, the group may make further gains.
A total of 432 members of the outgoing assembly (around 77.5%) lost their seats in the elections.
Summary of the 2005 Election Results
The 454 seats of the Eighth People's Assembly (12 seats are still in contest):General Conditions
The usual low turnout at the polling stations persisted. Voter turnout was estimated to be around 25% — some say even less. The emergence of a new type of non-political candidate — rich people seeking election for reasons unrelated to politics and willing to buy votes for money — was hardly encouraging. Many blame the NDP monopoly and firm grasp of the political system for losing the people's confidence in any real change.Muslim Brotherhood gains
Perhaps one of the most surprising results of the elections is the quintupling of the Muslim BrotherhoodMuslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
(MB) number of seats. The MB presently constitute the largest opposition bloc in the parliament. They obtained these seats without having a clear program or policy, running on one slogan, "Islam is the solution".
Worries about the Brotherhood is gripping the Copts as well as Muslim moderates and in secular circles, as the MB's agenda still remains vague.
Many argue that with the MB now in the legislature rather than the underground, it will have to bring its ideas in full to the public domain, where their views will be subject to debate, criticism, revision and the transformation of its most extreme ideas to more secular ones, making the group more accustomed to the political game. These intellectuals argue that repressing religious currents does not weaken them, but instead strengthens them. The results of this election seemed to signal the emergence of the MB from being a popular underground organization to a civil political party.
Religion and Politics
Many political experts and writers have argued that the Brotherhood's main slogan to be a violation of the Egyptian constitution, that guarantees freedom of religious practice and equality of citizens. While the MB have continuously claimed that since the constitution takes the Islamic ShariaSharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
as one of the sources of legislation and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
as the state religion
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
, then the slogan is in line with the constitution and is not a violation.
Even though the NDP launched extensive campaigns that aimed at decreasing the support of this slogan and claiming the separation of the state and religion, the NDP itself as well as other groups have used either Islamic or Coptic religious figures in support of their programs.
Some analysts fear that such introduction of religion into politics would threaten reform towards a secular and liberal country as well as potentially alienating its Coptic population.
Failure of secularism
The official political parties and specifically the liberal left have lost their seats in addition to their ideological influence with the voting population. In addition to symbolic and leading figures losing their seats, the failure of its ideas in addition to its lack of mobility and genuine political activity, have put the major opposition parties with no more than 10 seats which is a very small percentage.The major political parties formed the United National Front for Change (UNFC), which provided ambiguous programmes for political and constitutional reform yet without any connection with grassroots constituencies, resulting in wholesale losses for its fielded candidates.
The political failure doesn't only involve the opposition but also the NDP. The NDP has lost over 100 of its seats with some of its top influential reform figures as well as long-serving political figures in this election. The NDP has also failed to "get out the vote
Get out the vote
"Get out the vote" are terms used to describe two categories of political activity, both aimed at increasing the number of votes cast in one or more elections.- Non-partisan contexts :...
". The low turnout which is estimated to be around 25% as well as the fact that around half of the MB votes were protest votes against the NDP's power monopoly.
The NDP still maintains a comfortable hold of 68% of the Assembly seats, which shall enable it to push through its program. However, many say now that it won't be as smooth as before.
2011 Presidential elections
The failure to achieve the 5% threshold by the major opposition parties, whether independently or collectively, has endangered their involvement in the upcoming Presidential Elections in 2011. The amendment of article 76 of the Constitution, which allowed multi-candidate presidential elections, but imposed draconian rules on party nominees, is thought to be in need of alteration to remove the 5% restriction. Without such an alteration, the 2011 presidential elections will be little more than a modified version of the single-candidate poll it has been for the past 5 decades or so.Future reform
The results of the election has triggered a fierce debate about the future of the reform process, now in the hands of the oddest of political couples; the NDP businessmen and the Islamist bloc. The exclusion of the left is rather unsettling for Egyptian political analysts. However, the continuation of the national dialogue between different political forces and groups is seen crucial for a more balanced reform.Analysts predict inevitable clashes between the NDP and MB over policy. The assembly may quickly find itself hamstrung, in which case it might well be dissolved by the president
President of Egypt
The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the head of state of Egypt.Under the Constitution of Egypt, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government....
. There had been calls from across the political spectrum that the only way out of the current impasse is to establish a new political party capable of staking out the middle ground between the NDP and MB.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg
A number of amendments are thought to be at the head of the reform agenda. Some concern political practices, political parties law, citizenship rights, revocation of the ancient state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
and more democratization of the Egyptian political process. These reforms were personally announced by President Mubarak, and were at the center of the NDP official presidential and parliamentary election campaigns.