| A roundup of the overlooked last stage of parliamentary elections; the Shura Council |
| By Randa El Tahawy |
| With the tragic events of the Port Said football game and the confrontations between protesters and authorities around the Ministry of Interior, it seems many have forgotten the ongoing Shura elections, the last phase of Egypt’s parliamentary elections.Shura Council’s elections saw a low turnout, less than 3 million valid votes so far. Judge Khaled Abou Bakr, who was supervising the elections in El-Qarbeyya school near Tahrir Square, told local press that until around 2pm only 19 voters had shown up.On the first day of the Shura Council elections, the Carter Center, an independent election monitoring organization, issued a preliminary statement saying it observed low levels of interest and participation among voters, political parties, and nongovernmental organizations. A common response from people who hadn’t gone to vote in the Shura Council elections was that people didn’t really know what the council’s role was and whether or not it was of any importance. The first round kicked off on January 29 and is scheduled to end on February 22 after 180 members are chosen for the upper house of the Parliament. The elections took place in 13 of Egypt’s 27 governorates, including Cairo, Alexandria, Minufiya, Gharbiya, Daqahliya, Damietta, Fayoum, Assuit, Qena, Al Wadi al-Jadid, North Sinai, South Sinai and the Red Sea. Preliminary results for the second district of South, West and Central Cairo showed a sweeping victory for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) winning around 50 percent of the seats for those districts. The Salafi Nour party followed closely with around 35 percent of the seats followed by Wafd and the Reform and Development Party. Similar results were also reported in the Northern and Eastern Cairo districts with FJP winning 50 percent of the seats followed by the Egyptian Coalition, 25 percent, and Al Nour, 25 percent. FJP also continued to win throughout the rest of the governorates, except in South Sinai where Nour and The New Wafd parties were ahead of FJP. Overall FJP has won 45.2 percent of the seats in the first phase, receiving 1.3 million votes out of 2,924,187 valid votes. AP Dissecting the Shura Council Two-thirds of the council’s 270 members are elected, with half of the seats dedicated to professionals and the rest to workers and farmers. Of those, 120 are elected through party lists while 60 are reserved for individual candidates. Ninety of the Shura Council's 270 seats will be decided in the first round of voting with run-offs that were held yesterday. Another 90 will be determined by voting on February 14 and 15, with run-offs on February 22. The remaining 90 will be appointed by Egypt's next president who is expected to be elected next June, according to the transition timetable set by the Supreme Council for Armed Forces. According to Abdel Moez Ibrahim, head of Supreme Electoral Council, the council will operate with the elected 180 members until the president is elected. The first session of the elected Shura Council is scheduled to convene on February 28. The Shura Council, or upper house of parliament, started in 1980 through a constitutional amendment. As the name suggests, the Shura Council is a consultative council to the lower house of the Parliament, the People’s Assembly. It has limited powers and cannot block legislation in the lower house, however, its members must be consulted before the lower house passes any bill. Under former President Hosni Mubarak, the council did not have a significant legislative role and was frequently accused of being corrupt. The president appointed one third of the council, and the rest was virtually guaranteed to have a National Democratic Party majority. The council reviewed and commented on draft laws before referring them to the People’s Assembly and this role is still defined under the Interim Constitution issued in March. But according to the declaration and the transition path set by the military council, The People’s Assembly and the Shura Council are tasked with forming the panel that will draft the country’s new constitution. |
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