Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
in three-stage elections in November and December 2005 to elect 444 of the 454 members of the People's Assembly. The elections formed the Eighth Assembly since the adoption of the 1971 Constitution. A total of 5267 candidates competed in 222 constituencies for the Assembly's 444 elected seats.
They came only two months after the first multi-candidate presidential elections in Egypt's history, the previous voting procedure being by
referendum
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
. Although the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) maintained its majority and control of the Assembly with 311 seats (72%), unprecedented gains were made by the
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
who took 88 seats, while the rest of the opposition took 24 seats. Ten further seats are appointed by the president, while 12 were still undecided at the end of the final round awaiting court rulings.
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.
Electoral system
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
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
. Official registration for the candidates began on October 12, 2005.
The role of the
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
is restricted to maintaining peace and order at the polling stations without interference in the voting process or entering the voting stations.
The first stage was held on Wednesday November 9, with run-off elections on Tuesday November 15 with 10.7 million registered voters covering 8 Egyptian governorates:
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
,
Giza
Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...
Asyut
AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut''. ( ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city i ...
, al-Minya, Matruh and al-Wadi al-Jadid
The second stage was held on Sunday November 20, with run-off elections on Saturday November 26 with 10.5 million registered voters covering 9 Egyptian governorates:
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
Suhaj
Sohag (, , ), also spelled as Suhag or Suhaj, is a city on the west bank of the Nile in Egypt. It has been the capital of Sohag Governorate since 1960, before which the capital was Girga and the name of the governorate was Girga Governorate. It ...
,
Aswan
Aswan (, also ; ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city ha ...
New Wafd Party
The New Wafd Party (), officially the Egyptian Wafd Party and also known as the Al-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 Part ...
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world.
The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
- 1
* Independents - 14
* Non-Elected Members - 10
Initially the NDP scored only 40% of the seats, but many independents switched their political affiliation back to NDP giving it its soaring majority.
Campaign
Officially, the campaign period starts immediately after the announcement of the final list of candidates and ends one day before
election day
Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ...
. 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 £E70,000, 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).
Conduct
The official monitors of the elections are the
judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
and the governmental
National Council for Human Rights
The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR; ) is an Egyptian human rights organization established in 2003 with a mission of promoting and maintaining human rights in Egypt. The NCHR publishes annual reports concerning the current status of huma ...
(NCHR). Over 30 human rights organizations,
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.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
A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually a 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 cas ...
es with transparent ones (this was done this year), put
surveillance camera
A closed-circuit television camera is a type of surveillance camera that transmits video signals to a specific set of monitors or video recording devices, rather than broadcasting the video over public airwaves. The term "closed-circuit televisi ...
s 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.
Mubarak's regime attempted to tightly control the parliamentary elections in favour of his NDP, where a range of violations were recorded and many people were killed. One human rights organisation observed how police security forces closed 100 polling stations in four Governorates (Al-Sharqia, Al-Daqahlia, Damiatta, Kafr El Sheikh), where they also prevented supporters of opposition candidates from entering stations that remained open, while allowing NDP supporters in (Al-Bahrian School, Abu Hamaad Constituency, Al-Sharqia Governorate, Rafah poll station (second Constituency), North Sinai Governorate. In the second phase run-off elections, 26 polling stations were closed down in five Governorates (Alexandria, Port Said, Fayoum, Al-Behira and Qena).
In the second and third rounds, lines of police officers in riot gear blockaded numerous polling stations in Muslim Brotherhood strongholds, where supporters fought back, hurling stones and molotov cocktails. In one day, security forces killed eight people, while over the course of the elections hundreds of voters were wounded and more than 1000 arrested, mainly supporters of the Brotherhood. By the end of the elections the overall death toll stood at 13.
Results
On 12 December 2005 President Mubarak appointed ten members of the Assembly. Of the appointed, five are men, five are women and four of them are
Copts
Copts (; ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptians, Egyptian population, des ...
. The appointed members were:
*Mohamed Dakrouri, Advisor to the President
*Ahmed Omar Hashem, former chairman of
Al-Azhar University
The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...
*Edward Ghali El-Dahabi, lawyer
*Ramzi El-Shaer, former president of
Zagazig University
Zagazig University () is a public university located in the city of Zagazig, Egypt.
History
Zagazig University began as a branch of Ain Shams University in 1970. On April 14, 1974, it gained independence through a decree, becoming a stand ...
and professor of
constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...
*Iskandar Ghattas, assistant to the Justice Minister
*Zeinab Radwan, former dean of
Cairo University
Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...
's faculty of
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
and Islamic Studies (Became Deputy Speaker)
*Georgette Sobhi, member of National Council for Women
*Ibrahim Habib, chairman of the Real Estate Registration Authority (Notary Public)
*Siadah Ilhami, sociologist
*Sanaa El-Banna, chairman of the Petrochemical Holding Company
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
Parliamentary election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
Parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
Parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...