Parliamentary elections were held in Egypt on June 1 1931.[1] The result was a victory for Ismail Sidqi's newly formed People's Party (Hizb ash-Shaab). This was the only election carried out under the 1930 Egyptian constitution, a much more autocratic constitution which replaced the 1923 Egyptian constitution. This election was boycotted by the Liberal Constitutional Party and the Wafd party, leading to a political crisis until the restoration of the 1923 constitution in 1935 and the Wafd's victory in the 1936 election.
After the resignation of Mustafa al-Nahas' Wafd government in 1930, King Fuad appointed Ismail Sidqi prime minister on 20 June 1930.[2][3] His first act was to propagate parliament for a month. In response, the Wafd party held a national congress to defend the constitution and adopt a policy of noncooperation with the government through refusing the pay taxes until parliament was restored.[2][4] While the Liberal Constitutionalists had issues with the parliament, they were against drawing up a new constitution and ultimately withdrew their support of the government when Sidqi promulgated a new constitution on 22 October. This new document increased the powers of the king such as increasing the number of monarch appointed senators from two-fifths to three-fifths of the Egyptian senate. Sidqi also passed a new electoral law. Elections were now indirect; fifty voters elected a elector who then voted for a candidate. The voting age was increased from twenty-one to twenty-five while also adding property and educational requirements for electors. The chamber of deputies was reduced to 150 members.[5] The most egregious part of the law was the ban on 'liberal' workers outside of Cairo from running. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, merchants, and journalists - professions typically associated with Wafdist and Liberal Constitutionalists supporters- in the countryside were barred from running, while conservative government-appointed village elites and shiekhs could run.[6] The Wafd and Liberal Constitutionalists agreed to boycott the election, signed a joint pact on March 31 calling for a return of the 1923 system.[4]
Results
The elections that took place were marked with violence and corruption. During a clash with police on May 14, the Red Crescent reported 262 wounded and 40 killed.[7] In some cases, Egyptian voted multiple times. Qina had a 97 turnout, Jirja 98 percent, and the province of Aswan had a turnout of 105 percent.[7] As one American Mission doctor in Fayum put it, the elections were "an absolute farce in all particulars ... whole villages were simply deserted lest they be gathered in by force and required to vote ... and that cooking the lists was done in practically every booth."[8] Parliament sat on June 20 1931 and was dissolved on November 30,1934.[1]
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