Elections in Egypt
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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Egypt |
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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 year | Total seats in the Chamber of Deputies |
Wafd Party | Big Landowners | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seats won | Percentage | Seats won | Percentage | ||
1924 | 214 | 181 | 84.6 | 93 | 43.5 |
1925 | 214 | 113 | 52.8 | 95 | 44.4 |
1926 | 214 | 172 | 80.4 | 105 | 49.1 |
1929 | 235 | 212 | 90.2 | 108 | 45.9 |
1931 | 150 | 0 | 0.0 | 58 | 38.7 |
1936 | 232 | 180 | 77.6 | 112 | 48.3 |
1938 | 264 | 14 | 5.3 | 131 | 49.6 |
1942 | 264 | 203 | 76.9 | 93 | 35.2 |
1945 | 285 | 0 | 0.0 | 123 | 43.2 |
1950 | 317 | 157 | 49.5 | 119 | 37.5 |
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.
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.
Parties | Votes | % | 2010 Seats | 2005 Seats | Net Change | Seats % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Democratic Party (Al'Hizb Al Watani Al Democrati) | 420 | 330 | ![]() |
81.0% | ||||
Independents (NDP)[10] | 53 | 0 | ![]() |
10.2% | ||||
New Wafd Party (Hizb al-Wafd-al-Jadid) | 6 | 5 | ![]() |
1.1% | ||||
Progressive National Unionist Party (Hizb al Tagammo' al Watani al Taqadommi al Wahdawi) | 5 | 1 | ![]() |
0.9% | ||||
Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad) | 1 | 1 | ![]() |
0.2% | ||||
Arab Democratic Nasserist Party or Nasserist Party | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
0.0% | ||||
Liberal Party (Hizb al-Ahrar) | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
0.0% | ||||
Social Justice Party (Hizb Al-'Adala al- Ijtima'iyya) | 1 | - | ![]() |
0.2% | ||||
Democratic Generation Party (Hizb El-Geel al-Democrati) | 1 | - | ![]() |
0.2% | ||||
Democratic Peace Party (Hizb El-Salaam al-Democrati) | 1 | - | ![]() |
0.2% | ||||
Independents (Muslim Brotherhood - al-ikhwān al-muslimūn) | 1 | 88 | ![]() |
0.2% | ||||
Independents (other) | 15 | 19 | ![]() |
|||||
Still in contest | 4 | |||||||
Unelected members | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1.9% | ||||
Total (turnout %) | 518 |
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
2014 Presidential election
Candidates | Parties | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi | Independent | 23,780,114 | 96.91% | |
Hamdeen Sabahi | Egyptian Popular Current | 757,511 | 3.09% | |
Total valid votes | 24,537,625 | 95.93% | ||
Invalid votes | 1,040,608 | 4.07% | ||
Turnout | 25,578,233 | 47.50% | ||
Abstentions | 28,270,667 | 52.50% | ||
Registered voters | 53,848,890 | 100% | ||
Source: [11] |
2012 Presidential election
The 2012 presidential election was the first free presidential election in Egypt's history, in due part to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. According to the new election rules released on 30 January 2012, candidates have to be born in Egypt under Egyptian parents, must not hold any dual nationality, and not married to a foreigner. Candidates who were convicted of crimes must wait for 6 years before fulfilling their candidacy. In order to be nominated, they must have the support of 30 MPs or 30,000 voters. Four major candidates (Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, Ayman Nour, Khairat El-Shater, Omar Suleiman) and six minor candidates have been disqualified for violation of election rules. The election takes place in a two-round system, with FJP chairman Mohammed Morsi and previous prime minister Ahmed Shafiq leading the first round with 24.78% and 23.66% on the first round of 23–24 May 2012, respectively. In the second round run-off on 16–17 June 2012, Mohammed Morsi won over Ahmed Shafiq with 51.73% over 48.27%. On 24 June 2012, Egypt's election commission proclaimed Morsi as the winner of the run-off. Morsi was sworn in before the Supreme Constitutional Court on 30 June 2012 as Egypt's first democratically-elected president.
Candidates | Parties | 1st round | 2nd round | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
Mohamed Morsi | Freedom and Justice Party | 5,764,952 | 24.78% | 13,230,131 | 51.73% | |
Ahmed Shafik | Independent | 5,505,327 | 23.66% | 12,347,380 | 48.27% | |
Hamdeen Sabahi | Dignity Party | 4,820,273 | 20.72% | |||
Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh | Independent | 4,065,239 | 17.47% | |||
Amr Moussa | Independent | 2,588,850 | 11.13% | |||
Mohammad Salim Al-Awa | Independent | 235,374 | 1.01% | |||
Khaled Ali | Independent | 134,056 | 0.58% | |||
Abu Al-Izz Al-Hariri | Socialist Popular Alliance Party | 40,090 | 0.17% | |||
Hisham Bastawisy | National Progressive Unionist Party | 29,189 | 0.13% | |||
Mahmoud Houssam | Independent | 23,992 | 0.10% | |||
Mohammad Fawzi Issa | Democratic Generation Party | 23,889 | 0.10% | |||
Houssam Khairallah | Democratic Peace Party | 22,036 | 0.09% | |||
Abdullah Alashaal | Authenticity Party | 12,249 | 0.05% | |||
Total valid votes | 23,265,516 | 98.28% | 25,577,511 | 96.81% | ||
Invalid votes | 406,720 | 1.72% | 843,252 | 3.19% | ||
Turnout | 23,672,236 | 46.42% | 26,420,763 | 51.85% | ||
Abstentions | 27,324,510 | 53.58% | 24,538,031 | 48.15% | ||
Registered voters | 50,996,746 | 50,958,794 | ||||
Source: [12][13][14] |
2011–2012 Parliamentary election
The 2011–2012 parliamentary elections were the first free parliamentary election in Egypt's history and the first after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. The new electoral law allows for two-thirds of seats reserved for political parties elected under proportional representation and one-third reserved for independents under first past the post system, with half of the seats reserved for members of a labor/farmer background (as part of the continuation from Nasser's legacy) and quotas for women made under the Mubarak era to be abolished. Many political parties opposed the new electoral law and threatened to boycott the election unless party members can allow to run in the remaining one-third of the seats. SCAF succumbed to pressure from the political parties and allowed party members to contest the remaining independent seats. The People's Assembly took place in three stages (first stage: 28–29 November 2011 with run-off on 5–6 December, second stage: 14–15 December 2011 with run-off on 21–22 December, and third stage: 3–4 January 2012, with run-off on 10–11 January). The results brought the FJP, represented under Democratic Alliance for Egypt to win a majority of 235 seats, Al-Nour Party, represented under Islamist Bloc with 121 seats, and liberal and leftist parties with 104 seats, with the remaining 40 seats going to ex-NDP and non-partisan independents. In the elections for the Shura Council, the election itself took place in two stages, (first round: 29–30 January, with run-off on 5–6 February, and second round: 14–15 February, with run-off on 21–22 February). The results brought the FJP to win 105 seats, al-Nour with 45 seats, and liberal parties under the New Wafd and Egyptian Bloc with only 22 seats.
Party | Ideology | Votes | Vote % | PR Seats | FPTP Seats | Total Seats | Component Parties | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic Alliance for Egypt (led by the Freedom and Justice Party) |
Nationalist[15] | 10,138,134 | 37.5 | 127 | 108 | 235 | Freedom & Justice Party: 213 Dignity Party: 6 Ghad El-Thawra Party: 2 Civilization Party: 2 Islamic Labour Party: 1 Egyptian Arab Socialist Party: 1 Egyptian Reform Party: 1 Affiliated Independents 9 | |
Islamist Bloc (led by Al-Nour Party) |
Islamist - Salafi | 7,534,266 | 27.8 | 96 | 25[16][17] or 27[18] |
121[16][17] or 123[18] |
Al-Nour Party: 107 Building & Development Party: 13 Authenticity Party: 3 | |
New Wafd Party | National liberal | 2,480,391 | 9.2 | 37 | 4 | 41 | ||
Egyptian Bloc | Social liberal | 2,402,238 | 8.9 | 33 | 2[16] or 1[18] |
35[16] or 34[18] |
Social Democratic Party: 16 Free Egyptians Party: 15 Progressive Unionist Party: 4 | |
Al-Wasat Party | Moderate Islamist | 989,003 | 3.7 | 10 | 0 | 10 | ||
The Revolution Continues Alliance | Leftist | 745,863 | 2.8 | 7 | 2 | 9 | Socialist Popular Alliance Party: 7 Freedom Egypt Party: 1 Equality & Development Party: 1 | |
Reform and Development Party | Liberal | 604,415 | 2.2 | 8 | 1 | 9 | ||
Freedom Party | NDP offshoot | 514,029 | 1.9 | 4 | 0 | 4 | ||
National Party of Egypt | NDP offshoot | 425,021 | 1.6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | ||
Egyptian Citizen Party | NDP offshoot | 235,395 | 0.9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||
Union Party | NDP offshoot | 141,382 | 0.5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
Conservative Party | NDP offshoot | 272,910 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
Democratic Peace Party | NDP offshoot[19][16] | 248,281 | 0.9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
Justice Party | Center | 184,553 | 0.7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
Arab Egyptian Unity Party | NDP offshoot | 149,253 | 0.6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
Nasserist Party | Nasserist | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
Independents | Independents | - | - | - | 21[18] | 21[18] | ||
Total elected | elected MPs | 27,065,135 | 100.00 | 332 | 166 | 498 | ||
SCAF appointees | non-elected MPs | - | - | - | - | 10 | ||
Total | MPs | - | - | - | - | 508 |
Sources:Ahram Online,[16] Al-Masry Al-Youm,[17] Al-Ahram[18][20]
Party | Proportional representation | FPTP | Total seats | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Seats | |||
Freedom and Justice Party | 2,894,922 | 45.04 | 56 | 49 | 105 | |
Islamist Bloc | 1,840,014 | 28.63 | 38 | 7 | 45 | |
New Wafd Party | 543,417 | 8.45 | 14 | 0 | 14 | |
Egyptian Bloc | 348,957 | 5.43 | 8 | 0 | 8 | |
Freedom Party | 84,936 | 1.32 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
Democratic Peace Party | 95,273 | 1.48 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Independents | – | – | – | 4 | 4 | |
Presidential appointees | – | – | – | – | 90 | |
Total | 6,427,666 | 100 | 120 | 60 | 270 |
On 14 June 2012, Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court invalidated the recent 2011–2012 election of the People's Assembly as the court does not accept the results having party members elected as independents. The court ordered the People's Assembly to be dissolved and new elections to be called by the new president.
Past elections
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.[21]
See also
References
- ↑ BBC (18 January 2014). "BBC News - Egypt referendum: '98% back new constitution'". BBC Online. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ↑ "Top stats for Egypt: Country profile". nationmaster.com.
- ↑ "Egyptian elections preliminary results". jadaliyya.com.
- ↑ "Muslim Brotherhood tops Egyptian poll result". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Polity IV Regime Trends: Egypt, 1946–2008". Polity data series. Center for Systemic Peace. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ http://www.almesryoon.com/news.aspx?id=45332
- ↑ "El-Sisi wins Egypt's presidential race with 96.91%". Ahram Online. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ↑ "BREAKING: Mursi, Shafiq officially in Egypt's presidential elections runoffs".
- ↑ النتيجة النهائية لانتخابات مصر( الجولة الأولى ) (in Arabic).
- ↑ "Muslim Brotherhood's Mursi declared Egypt president". Middle East. BBC. 24 June 2012.
- ↑ "Egypt after the Revolt. Emboldened Muslim Brotherhood May Emerge from Egypt's Spring Power Transition". Thecuttingedgenews.com. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Essam El-Din, Gamal (23 Jan 2012). "Egypt's post-Mubarak legislative life begins amid tension and divisions". Ahram Online. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
- 1 2 3 السنهوري, محمد (21 January 2012). "«العليا» تعلن نتائج قوائم «الشعب».. الحرية والعدالة 127 مقعدًا والنور 96 و«الكتلة» 33". Retrieved 6 June 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ممدوح شعبان وسعاد طنطاوي وعلي محمد علي. "النتائج النهائية لانتخابات مجلس الشعب". al-ahram.
- ↑ El-Din, Gamal Essam (22–28 December 2011), "Islamists consolidate their lead", Al-Ahram Weekly, retrieved 6 June 2014
- ↑ "Who are the non-Islamists in Egypt's parliament?". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
- ↑ 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.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elections in Egypt. |
- Egypt Elections Watch – Jadaliyya
- Aswatna Virutal Resource Center a central resource for electoral information in Egypt
- Global Integrity Report: Egypt has analysis of election integrity in Egypt.
- Adam Carr's Election Archive
- IDEA Report on Egypt
- Elections in Egypt, Human Rights Watch, 2010