Elections in Egypt

Egypt
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Egypt
Constitution (history)
Political parties (former)

Elections in Egypt are held for the President and a unicameral legislature. The President of Egypt is elected for a four-year term by popular vote.[1]

Suffrage is universal and compulsory for every Egyptian citizen over 18. Failure to vote can result in fine or even imprisonment,[2] but in practice a significant percentage of eligible voters do not vote. About 50 million voters are registered to vote out of a population of more than 85 million.[3] Turnout in the 2011 parliamentary election was 54%.[4]

Kingdom of Egypt (1922–1953)

The Kingdom of Egypt was granted nominal independence by the United Kingdom on 28 February 1922. Between the Declaration of 1922 and the Revolution of 1952, ten general elections were held (in 1924, 1925, 1926, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1945 and 1950).[5] This era is generally known as Egypt's Liberal Experiment. Egypt has never recovered the level of political freedom it enjoyed during this period.[6]

During the four elections held between 1924 and 1929, candidates from the Coptic Christian minority received 15 to 23 seats. Copts received four seats in 1931, six in 1938, 12 in 1945, and five in 1950.[7] The opposition's share of seats also varied throughout this period. The opposition won 15.1% of the seats in the 1924 election, 18.9% in 1926, 6.9% in 1929, 18.1% in 1936, 12.1% in 1942, and 29.2% in the 1950 election, the last to be held prior to the 1952 Revolution which ended Egypt's multi-party system.[8]

Electoral performance of the Wafd Party and Big Landowners during the monarchy[9]
Electoral year Total seats in the
Chamber of Deputies		 Wafd Party Big Landowners
Seats won Percentage Seats won Percentage
192421418184.69343.5
192521411352.89544.4
192621417280.410549.1
192923521290.210845.9
193115000.05838.7
193623218077.611248.3
1938264145.313149.6
194226420376.99335.2
194528500.012343.2
195031715749.511937.5

Elections under the Mubarak regime

2005 Presidential election

Under the Mubarak era, the Egyptian presidential election of 2005 was the first-ever multi-party, multi-candidate contested presidential election in Egypt's history, made under the 2005/2007 constitutional amendments to the 1971 Constitution of Egypt. Despite its significance, the election was marred by voter fraud, ballot stuffing, boycotts, intimidation, vote-buying, and protests by opposition groups, leading for a low-turnout of under 30%. Before the 2005 election, the President of Egypt was nominated by a two-thirds majority of the rubber-stamp People's Assembly and approved under a referendum process that resembles a show election in authoritarian countries.

 Summary of the 7 September 2005 Egyptian presidential election results
Candidates, Nominating parties Votes %
Hosni Mubarak, National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watani Al-Dimuqrati) 6,316,714 88.6
Ayman Nour, Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad) 540,405 7.3
Numan Gomaa, New Wafd Party (Hizb al-Wafd al-Jadid) 201,891 2.8
Total (Turnout 22.9 %) 7,059,010

2010 Parliamentary elections

Under the Mubarak era, The People's Assembly and Shura Council were elected under an electoral system of single member plurality. Along with the combination of voter fraud, ballot stuffing, intimidation, and lack of judicial and international supervision, this ensured the NDP a super-majority win of seats for both houses. The Muslim Brotherhood were not recognized as a political party by law, but its members were allowed to run as independents.

 Summary of the 2010 People's Assembly of Egypt election results
Parties Votes % 2010 Seats 2005 Seats Net Change Seats
%
National Democratic Party (Al'Hizb Al Watani Al Democrati)   420 330 Increase90 81.0%
Independents (NDP)[10]   53 0 Increase53 10.2%
New Wafd Party (Hizb al-Wafd-al-Jadid)   6 5 Increase1 1.1%
Progressive National Unionist Party (Hizb al Tagammo' al Watani al Taqadommi al Wahdawi)   5 1 Increase4 0.9%
Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad)   1 1 Steady0 0.2%
Arab Democratic Nasserist Party or Nasserist Party   0 0 Steady0 0.0%
Liberal Party (Hizb al-Ahrar)   0 0 Steady0 0.0%
Social Justice Party (Hizb Al-'Adala al- Ijtima'iyya)   1 - Increase1 0.2%
Democratic Generation Party (Hizb El-Geel al-Democrati)   1 - Increase1 0.2%
Democratic Peace Party (Hizb El-Salaam al-Democrati)   1 - Increase1 0.2%
Independents (Muslim Brotherhood - al-ikhwān al-muslimūn)   1 88 Decrease−87 0.2%
Independents (other)   15 19 Decrease4
Still in contest   4
Unelected members 10 0 0 1.9%
Total (turnout %)   518
 Summary of the 1 June and 8 June 2010 Egyptian Shura Council election results
Parties Seats
1st 2nd Σ
National Democratic Party (Al'Hizb Al Watani Al Democrati) 74 6 80
Progressive National Unionist Party (Hizb al Tagammo' al Watani al Taqadommi al Wahdwawi) 1 0 1
Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad) 1 0 1
Arab Democratic Nasserist Party or Nasserist Party 1 0 1
Democratic Generation Party (Hizb El-Geel al-Democrati) 1 0 1
Independents (other) 0 4 4
Independents (Muslim Brotherhood - al-ikhwān al-muslimūn) 0 0 0
Appointees 44
Total 78 10 132

Latest elections

2018 Presidential election

2015 Parliamentary election

 Summary of the 2015 election for House of Representatives (Egypt)
Party Ideology Votes Vote % FPTP Seats List Seats Total Seats Appointed members
Free Egyptians Party Liberalism, Secularism 57 8 65
Nation's Future Party Populism 43 10 53
New Wafd Party Egyptian nationalism, National Liberalism 27 8 36 1
Homeland Defenders Party Populism 10 8 18
Republican People's Party Liberalism, Populism 13 0 13
Conference Party Big tent, Liberalism 8 4 12
Al-Nour Party Islamism, Salafism 11 0 11
Conservative Party Conservative Liberalism 1 5 6
Democratic Peace Party Liberal Democracy, Civic Nationalism 5 0 5
Egyptian Social Democratic Party Social Democracy, Social Liberalism 4 0 4
Egyptian National Movement Party Secularism 4 0 4
Modern Egypt Party 4 0 4
Freedom Party Big tent, Liberalism 3 0 3
Reform and Development Party Liberalism 3 0 3
My Homeland Egypt Party Populism 3 0 3
Revolutionary Guards Party Nationalism, Liberalism 1 0 1
National Progressive Unionist Party Left-wing Nationalism, Democratic Socialism 1 0 2 1
Free Egyptian Building Party Islamism 1 0 1
Nasserist Party Arab Nationalism, Arab Socialism 1 0 1
Independents Independents - - 251 74 351 28
Total elected elected MPs 0 100.00 0 0 0
Appointees non-elected MPs - - - - 0
Total MPs - - - - 0

Past elections

Next elections

Egyptian presidential elections are held using a two-round system; the next election should be held in 2022.

The House of Representatives sits for a five-year term but can be dissolved earlier by the president. If the current parliament lasts the full term, the next elections will be held in 2020.

Referendums

The first referendum in Egypt was held on 23 June 1956. The electorate agreed with the adoption of the new 1956 constitution, and with the election of Gamal Abdel Nasser as President of Egypt.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ BBC (18 January 2014). "BBC News - Egypt referendum: '98% back new constitution'". BBC Online. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Top stats for Egypt: Country profile". nationmaster.com.
  3. ↑ "Egyptian elections preliminary results". jadaliyya.com.
  4. ↑ "Muslim Brotherhood tops Egyptian poll result". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Caldwell, J. A. M. (1966). Dustūr: A Survey of the Constitutions of the Arab and Muslim States. Reprinted with additional material from the 2nd ed. of Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill. p. 29. OCLC 255757167. Retrieved 2010-07-21. There had been ten general elections held from 1924 to 1952. These were the elections of 1924, 1925, 1926, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1945 and 1950.
  6. ↑ "Polity IV Regime Trends: Egypt, 1946–2008". Polity data series. Center for Systemic Peace. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
  7. ↑ Mansour, Atallah (2004). Narrow Gate Churches: The Christian Presence in the Holy Land under Muslim and Jewish Rule. Pasadena, CA: Hope Publishing House. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-932717-02-0. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
  8. ↑ Quandt, William B. (1988). The Middle East: Ten Years After Camp David. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-8157-7293-4. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
  9. ↑ Ansari, Hamied (1986). Egypt, the Stalled Society. SUNY series in Near Eastern studies. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-88706-183-7. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  10. ↑ http://www.almesryoon.com/news.aspx?id=45332
  11. ↑ Marques, Alvaro; Smith, Thomas B. (April 1984). "Referendums in the Third World" (fee required). Electoral Studies. 3 (1): 85–105. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(84)90025-8. ISSN 0261-3794. Retrieved 2010-07-23. There have been 13 referendums in Egypt, the first one being held on 23 June 1956 when voters were asked to approve or disapprove of Nasser and the constitution.

Bibliography

  • Landau, Jacob M. (1953). Parliaments and Parties in Egypt (PhD thesis). Tel Aviv: Israel Pub. House. OCLC 3263523. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  • den Hartog, Michael (1996–1998). A Two-Way Approach to Stability in the Arab Southern Mediterranean Coastal States: Theories on Democracy and International Cooperation Applied to Developments Regarding Political Stability in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia (PDF) (Report). NATO Academic Forum. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
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