1929 Egyptian parliamentary election

1929 Egyptian parliamentary election

←  1926 21 December 1929 1931  →

First party Second party   Leader Mostafa el-Nahas Mohammed Mahmoud Party Wafd Liberal Constitutional Seats won 216 5 Percentage 60.88% 18.85%

Prime Minister before election Adly Yakan Pasha Liberal Constitutional Subsequent Prime Minister Mostafa el-Nahas Wafd

A 1928 cartoon in al Kashkul showing Mostafa el-Nahas filling in Sa'ad Zaghloul's chair after his death

Parliamentary elections were held in Egypt on 21 December 1929. ^[1] The result was a victory for the Wafd Party, which won 216 of the 232 seats. ^{[2] [a]} The number of deputies in parliament increased from 211 to 232 after the 1927 census showed an increase in the population. ^[3]

Background

After the 1926 elections the alliance between the Wafd and Liberal Constitutionalists initially held. Soon, however, a political crisis emerged after a draft treaty between the British Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain and Egyptian Prime Minister Sarwat Pasha. The treaty was rejected by the Wafd majority parliament, leading to Sarwat's resignation and the formation of a coalition cabinet between the Wafd, led by Mostafa el-Nahas after Saad Zaghloul's death, and the Liberal Constitutionalists. Nahas' first government was short lived after it was dismissed by King Fua'd following a British ultimatum. Specifically, the British objected to an amendment in the Egyptian assembly depriving the police the right to break up public meetings and assemblies. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Following Nahas' government, Mohammed Mahmud of the Liberal Constitutional party became prime minister, forming a coalition between Liberals and Ittihadists. ^[7] He later dissolved parliament and postponed elections, leading to Wafdist backlash. Mahmud entered into negotiations with the new foreign secretary Arthur Henderson, successfully signed an agreement over the Nile river in 1929. However, the British did not want to sign a final treaty without a government elected by the Egyptian people, thus forcing Mahmud to resign and call for new elections. ^{[8] [9] [10]} Mahmud tried to push for elections with restricted suffrage, where only Egyptians who were literate and paid a certain amount in taxes could vote, while the Wafd pushed for full male suffrage. ^[11] Ultimately, the British allowed for full male suffrage out of fear of antagonizing the Wafd and endangering the acceptance of any future treaty by the Egyptian people. ^[12] Elections were held under an interim government by Adly Yakan, leading to a Wafd victory.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Wafd Party	610,461	60.88	216
	Liberal Constitutional Party	189,014	18.85	5
	National Party	30,880	3.08	4
	Ittihad Party	49,437	4.93	0
	Independents	122,870	12.25	7
Total		1,002,662	100.00	232
Total votes		1,002,662	–
Registered voters/turnout		1,566,377	64.01
Source: Khatib [13]

Aftermath

Nahas would later be unable to secure a treaty with Britain, leading to the collapse of his second government and the emergence of what the historian Marius Deeb calls the "Palace-Sidqi Dictatorship" under the premiership of Ismail Sidky. ^[14]

Notes

1. Marsot (1977, p. 129) gives the Wafd 212 out of 235. Deeb (1979, p. 148) gives the Wafd 198 out of 235, with 3 seats each for the National Party and Ittihad, and the remaining went to independent candidates. Khatib's numbers are used because they are the most complete, giving both seats and raw vote totals.

References

1. Khatib 1954, p. 171.
2. Khatib 1954, p. 488.
3. Marsot 1977, p. 129.
4. Quraishi 1967, p. 106.
5. Khatib 1954, pp. 55–56.
6. Marsot 1977, p. 108.
7. Terry 1982, p. 217.
8. Khatib 1954 , p. 58: The end of the second constitutional crisis came when Britain insisted that the draft treaty in which the Mahmud-Henderson negotiations resulted should be approved by the Egyptian people's representatives. Therefore, under British pressure there was no escape from elections for a new Parliament being held.
9. Quraishi 1967 , p. 108: Agreements were signed with Great Britain over the Administration of the Nile water in the Sudan, over Egypt’s share in the Ottoman Debt, and over certain financial legacies of the 1914-1918 period. This created an impression in Mahmud Pasha’s mind that he would be able to solve the Anglo-Egyptian problem. But it was a mere wishful thinking on his part to assume that the British Government would be enthusiastic about coming to terms with an unrepresentative regime in Egypt. The British attitude was absolutely clear. Though certain concessions were granted, Britain was not prepared to sign a treaty which would not be ratified by a freely elected Egyptian Parliament. In other words, it was impossible for a Government, not enjoying the support of the Wafd Party, to find an everlasting settlement of the dispute. Mahmud Pasha resigned.
10. Marsot 1977 , p. 128: "The British government then decided that Mahmud had better take the treaty terms back to Egypt and put them to a popular vote, that is, Egypt was to return to parliamentary life ... On August 9 Hugh Dalton, the parliamentary undersecretary for foreign affairs, who disliked Mahmud, announced publicly that treaty negotiations were conditioned on a return to constitutional government in Egypt and on no change in the electoral law."
11. Gifford 2021, p. 153.
12. Deeb 1979, p. 202.
13. Khatib 1954, pp. 486–488.
14. Deeb (1979) Chapter Four: "The Palace-Sidqi Dictatorship: A Culmination of the Offensive against the Wafd 1930-1935"

Sources

• Deeb, Marius (1979). Party Politics in Egypt: the Wafd & its Rivals 1919–1939. Ithaca Press. ISBN   9780903729406.
• Gifford, Jayne (2021). ""The Two Ends Just Didn't Meet": the Labour Government and Anglo-Egyptian Treaty Negotiations". Britain in Egypt: Egyptian Nationalism and Imperial Strategy, 1919-1931. I.B. Tauris. ISBN   9780755636686.
• Khatib, M.F. (1954). The working of parliamentary institutions in Egypt, 1924-1952 (Thesis). University of Edinburgh.
• Marsot, Afaf Lutfi Al-Sayyid (1977). Egypt’s Liberal Experiment: 1922–1936. University of California Press. ISBN   9780520031098.
• Mahmud, Mohammed (1929). The Strong Hand in Egypt : a Brief Survey of the Policy of H.E. Mohamed Mahmoud Pasha in Egypt as Outlined in His Speeches 1928-1929. Cairo: P. Barbey's Print. OCLC   26704561.
• Quraishi, Zaheer M. (1967). "Within the Parliamentary Framework". Liberal Nationalism in Egypt; Rise and Fall of the Wafd Party. Jamal Printing Press. ISBN   9780861990009.
• Terry, Janice J. (1982). The Wafd: Cornerstone of Egyptian Political Power. Publisher: Third World Centre for Research and Publishing. ISBN   9780861990009.