Egyptian parliamentary elections to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

were held in two phases, from 17 October to 2 December 2015. The elected parliament will be entrusted with the task of reviewing the laws that were passed while a parliament was not in session. In preparation for the election, security was tightened across the country with at least 185,000 troops supporting police, President

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

made a televised appeal for Egyptians to vote, and in mid-October, public sector employees were given half a day's holiday to encourage them to take part. The strikingly low turnout, in some areas close to only 10%, with "many angry at the government and its policies", was widely regarded as a set-back for the administration and a success for calls to boycotts from oppositional movements. Despite the low turnout, the election resulted in a majority for pro-Sisi forces: Independents won 325 of the 596 seats, many of whom were aligned with the president. The For the Love of Egypt alliance, a pro-Sisi coalition, secured all 120 party-list seats, while the Free Egyptians Party became the largest party with 65 seats.

Electoral system

The parliament is made up of 596 seats, with 448 seats elected through the single member districts, 120 elected through party bloc vote in which party list should win 50%+ votes to win all seats however if no list achieved the threshold, a second round held between top two parties and the list with the most votes wins. Party list contain quotas for youth, women, Christians, and workers. Single member districts consists of 1-member district, 2-member districts, 3-member district and 4-member districts, winner should win 50%+ of the votes, if no one achieved the threshold a second round held between top candidates (candidates number should be the double of contested seat number) and the candidate with the most votes wins. In addition, 28 are selected by the president. The government commission that set the rules for the 2015 parliamentary elections drastically reduced the number of "list seats" (candidates who shared party affiliations or other alliances, and whose ranks had to include people under the age of thirty-five, women, Christians, and other traditionally underrepresented groups) from the 2011 election."

Procedure

First phase: Upper Egypt & West Delta

In the first phase, elections were held from 17 to 28 October 2015 in the fourteen governorates of the

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

and West Delta regions, namely the governorates of

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 ...

Fayoum Faiyum ( ; , ) is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum Governorate. It is one of Egypt's oldest cities due to its strategic location. Name and etymology Originally f ...

Beni Suef Beni Suef ( the capital city of the Beni Suef Governorate in Egypt. The city is the location of Beni Suef University. An important agricultural trade centre on the west bank of the Nile River, the city is located 110 km (70 miles) south of ...

, Minya,

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 ...

, New Valley, Sohag, Qena,

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

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 ...

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

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 ...

, Beheira, and Matruh. For these governorates, the first round of elections took place on 18 to 19 October for Egyptian residents, while it took place on 17 to 18 October for Egyptian expatriates. Runoffs were held on 27 to 28 October for Egyptians residents, and on 26 to 27 October for Egyptian expatriates. Nominations started on 1 September, and lasted until 12 September (with the exception of the Qena and Qoss districts, which were extended until 15 September), though candidates had until 15 September to submit the necessary medical tests. Campaigning for the first phase started on 29 September and ended on 15 October.

Second phase: Central and East Delta

In the second phase, elections took place from 21 November to 2 December 2015 in the remaining nine governorates of the Central Delta and East Delta regions, namely the governorates of

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 ...

, Qalyubia, Dakahlia, Monufia, Gharbia, Kafr el-Sheikh, Sharqia,

Damietta Damietta ( ' ) is a harbor, port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, from the Mediterranean Sea, and about north of Cairo. It was a Cath ...

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

Ismailia Ismailia ( ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city had an estimated population of about 1,434,741 according to the statistics issued by the Cen ...

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

, North Sinai, and South Sinai. For these governorates, the first round of elections took place on 22 to 23 November for Egyptian residents and 21 to 22 November for Egyptian expatriates. Runoffs were held on 1 to 2 December for Egyptian residents, and on 30 November to 1 December for Egyptian expatriates. Campaigning started on 2 November and ended on 20 November 2015.

Candidates

On 16 September, the High Elections Committee announced the initial list of accepted candidates. While nine electoral lists were accepted, five more lists were rejected, including two of the three lists of the Egypt coalition ( Egyptian Front & Independent Current Coalition) as well as the lists of Upper Egypt's Voice, Call of Egypt and Knights of Egypt. After appealing to court, all rejected lists but the one by Upper Egypt's Voice were admitted. The final list of candidates for the first phase was announced on 28 September. A total of 7

electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

s are contesting the 120 fixed-list seats available in the four regional constituencies: In the first phase, 2,573 individual candidates contested in 226 individual seats. Many parties are fielding individual candidates both on joint electoral lists and contesting the list-based seats.

Results

First phase

!colspan=2, Party !Ideology !Candidates !Run-off
candidates !% Reaching runoff !Votes !Seats , - style="text-align:right;" , bgcolor="" width=1, , align=left ,

Free Egyptians Party The Free Egyptians Party ( ) is an Egyptian liberal party, founded after the 2011 Egyptian revolution. It supports the principles of a liberal, democratic, and secular political order in Egypt. The Free Egyptians Party was the largest party i ...

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Liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

, 111 , 64 , 56.63 , 1,009,083 , 41 , - style="text-align:right;" , bgcolor="#8B0000" width=1, , style="text-align:left;",

Nation's Future Party The Nation's Future Party (), also known as the Future of the Nation Party, the Future of the Homeland Party, the Homeland's Future Party, or Mostaqbal Watan, is an Egyptian political party. The party is often seen as a "party of power", created ...

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Populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...

, 89 , 64 , 51.68 , 702,965 , 26 , - style="text-align:right;" , bgcolor="" width=1, , style="text-align:left;",

Al-Nour Party The al‑Nour Party (), or "Party of The Light", was one of the political parties created in Egypt after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It has an ultra-conservative, Islamist ideology, which believes in implementing strict Sharia law. It has be ...

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Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...

Islamist , 91 , 23 , 25.27 , 494,042 , 8 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background:; width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

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National liberalism National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A se ...

, 77 , 21 , 27.27 , 392,138 , 16 , - style="text-align:right;" , bgcolor="#0080FF" width=1, , style="text-align:left;",

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

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, 42 , 14 , 33.33 , 198,822 , 11 , - style="text-align:right;" , bgcolor="#8DB7E9" width=1, , style="text-align:left;", Democratic Peace Party , align="left" ,

Nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

, 57 , 8 , 14.03 , 155,847 , 1 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background:; width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;", Congress Party , align="left" ,

, 53 , 7 , 13.20 , 105,975 , 5 , - style="text-align:right;" , bgcolor="blue" style="width:1, , style="text-align:left;", Homeland Defenders Party , align="left" ,

, 51 , 5 , 9.80 , 89,875 , 7 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background:#1935D0; width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;", Freedom Party , align="left" ,

, 6 , 3 , 50.00 , 68,926 , 1 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background:Orange; width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;",

Egyptian Social Democratic Party The Egyptian Social Democratic Party (, ) is a social liberal and social democratic party in Egypt. It was founded after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution by the merger of two minor liberal parties, the Liberal Egyptian Party, and the Egyptian D ...

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Social liberalism Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

, 41 , 5 , 12.19 , 56,922 , 3 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background:; width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;", Egyptian Patriotic Movement , align="left" ,

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

, 60 , 4 , 6.66 , 45,014 , 1 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background:#D8F691;width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;", My Homeland Egypt Party , align="left" ,

, 20 , 3 , 15.00 , 29,971 , 1 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background:#8B0000;width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;", Modern Egypt Party , align="left" ,

, 25 , 2 , 8.00 , 25,993 , 2 , - style="text-align:right;" , bgcolor="" style="width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;",

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

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Conservatism Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...

, 14 , 1 , 4.28 , 23,042 , 1 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background:#6D74C4;width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;", Free Egyptian Building Party , align="left" , , 11 , 1 , 9.09 , , 1 , - style="text-align:right;" , bgcolor="" style="width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;", Leader Party , align="left" , , 9 , 1 , 11.11 , , 0 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background:gray; width:1px;", , style="text-align:left;", Other/ Independents , style="text-align:left;", ---- , , , , , , - class="sortbottom" , style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , align="right" , colspan=2 align="left", Total , style="text-align:left;", , , , , ,

Expatriates

The results for expatriate voting during the first phase were announced on 20 October 2015.

Boycotts

A number of parties boycotted the election, claiming that the process was unfair. These included the following: *

Bread and Freedom Party The Bread and Freedom Party (; '' Hizb AlEish WaAlHorria''), also translated as the Bread and Liberty Party, is a democratic socialist party in Egypt created by former members of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party. The party is not registered ...

Building and Development Party A building or edifice is an enclosed structure with a roof, walls and windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted through ...

* Civil Democratic Current (withdrew from the election for lack of funds) * Freedom Egypt Party * Homeland Party * National Conciliation Party (withdrew from the election) * Reawakening of Egypt (will not participate in the election) * Revolutionary Socialists * Social Justice Coalition (chose not to participate in the election) *

Strong Egypt Party The Strong Egypt Party () is an Egyptian centrist political party founded in 2012 by former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. History The Strong Egypt Party was established in July 2012 by former Muslim Brotherhood member and ...

* Al-Wasat Party

Rules for media coverage of elections by Supreme Electoral Commission

*Maintain objectivity and refrain from inserting personal views in news *Deliver accurate information *Refrain from using misleading titles or pictures unrelated to content *Refrain from using vague designations *It is strictly forbidden to ask voters who they will vote for *It is forbidden to conduct polls and surveys in front of polling stations *It is forbidden to phrase questions in a way that encourages a particular response *Reporters must respect the right of reply

References

{{Egyptian elections

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 elections in Egypt

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results