Egyptians start to vote in parliamentary polls

Around 63 million voters are eligible to vote in the two-stage election. The results will be announced in early December.

Giza: Egyptians began voting on Saturday in the first stage of a parliamentary election, a vote that is highly likely to produce a toothless House of Representatives packed with supporters of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

The elections are taking place as the Arab world’s most populous country faces a slight increase in coronavirus cases, with authorities warning that a second wave of the pandemic lies ahead.

Like the Senate elections in August, Egyptian election authorities said face masks would be handed out to voters for free and polling stations were disinfected.

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"The previous parliament allowed the government to do what it wanted," said voter Amr Abd-Elwahed. "I hope the next parliament discusses the government's decisions."

A total of 568 seats are up for grabs, with over 4,000 candidates running as individuals competing for 50% of the seats. Prominent, wealthy government-affiliated power brokers have an advantage.

The first stage of voting was taking place Saturday and Sunday in 14 of Egypt’s 27 provinces, including Giza and the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. Egyptian expatriates abroad voted earlier this week.

Voting in the country’s 13 other provinces, including the capital Cairo and the two provinces in the Sinai Peninsula, will take place on Nov. 7-8. Each stage of the vote will be followed by runoff elections.

Final results will be announced in December and the new chamber will hold its inaugural session shortly afterwards.

The vote is taking place amid an atmosphere in which public criticism of the government is strongly discouraged.

AP

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