1938 Egyptian parliamentary election

1938 Egyptian parliamentary election

←  1936 6 April 1938 1942  →

First party Second party Third party   Leader Mohammed Mahmoud Mahmoud El Nokrashy Pasha Mostafa el-Nahas Party Qawmiyyun [a] Saadist Wafd Seats won 105 87 14 Percentage 42.61% 25.43 6.26%

Prime Minister before election Mohamed Mahmoud Pasha Liberal Constitutional Subsequent Prime Minister Mohamed Mahmoud Pasha Liberal Constitutional

Cartoon by the political magazine Akhir Sa'ah showing a satirical commemorative stamp for the elections

Parliamentary elections were held in Egypt on 6 April 1938. ^{[1] [b]} The result was a victory for the ruling coalition government, dubbed the Qawmiyyun, which won 105 of the 264 seats. ^[3] This was the only election that the Wafd Party lost without boycotting, due to election rigging by the government.

Background

Politically, Egyptian politics at this time was divided between the liberal Wafd Party and the conservative palace. The term 'the palace' refers both to the king and his advisors and the minor parties that were traditional enemies of the Wafd. After the Wafd Party won the 1936 elections its leader Mostafa el-Nahas was appointed prime minster. However, issues quickly arose between the Wafd and the conservative palace. The Wafd opposed holding the coronation ceremony for King Farouk in a religious manner due to their secularist tendency. ^[4] A constitutional crisis emerged over an empty seat in the Senate because the palace did not believe that the government had the right to appoint senators. The Wafd refused to disband its paramilitary youth wing, the Blue Shirts. ^[5] Nahas' government was dismissed on 30 December 1937 after refusing to appoint Aly Maher as Chief of the Royal Cabinet. ^[6] A split in the Wafd occurred when a faction lead by Ahmad Maher and Mahmoud El Nokrashy left to form the Saadist Institutional Party. A new coalition government was led Prime Minister Mohamed Mahmoud of the Liberal Constitutionalist Party which dissolved parliament on 2 February 1939. ^[1]

The anti-Wafdist parties joined forces as the Qawmiyyun (Nationalist) coalition to deny the Wafd victory. The government gerrymandered districts, intimidated Wafdist voters and threatened village leaders to rig the elections. ^{[7] [8]} The government also arrested several former Blue Shirt leaders in March, claiming to find a Wafdist plot to disrupt the elections. ^[9]

Results

Different sources give different results for the elections. Marius Deeb (1979) puts the results as 77 seats for the Liberal Constitutionalists, 84 for the Saadists, 12 for the Wafd, 11 for the People's Party, five for the Ittihad Party, three for the National Party and 72 independents. ^{[10] [11]} David Moore (1965) puts the victory at 143 seats for the coalition, 104 for the Saadists, 80 for independents and 14 for Wafdists. The Wafd held on to a plurality of seats in the Egyptian senate, 68 out of 140. ^[12]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Qawmiyyun [a]	755,951	42.61	105
	Saadist Institutional Party	451,146	25.43	87
	Wafd Party	111,106	6.26	14
	Independents	455,835	25.69	58
Total		1,774,038	100.00	264
Total votes		1,779,893	–
Registered voters/turnout		3,003,326	59.26
Source: Khatib [13]

Aftermath

Mohammed Mahmud remained prime minister until August 1939, when he was replaced by Ali Maher. ^[14] Parliament sat on 8 May 1938 and was dissolved on 7 February 1942. ^[1]

Notes

1. Coalition of Liberal Constitutional Party, Ittihad Party, People's Party and National Party
2. According to another historian, prime minister Mahmud dissolved the Chamber of Deputies on 22 February and held elections in Upper and Middle Egypt on 31 March and in Lower Egypt on 2 April. ^[2]

References

1. Khatib 1954, p. 171.
2. Deeb 1979, p. 337.
3. Khatib 1954, p. 488.
4. Deeb 1979, p. 334.
5. Deeb 1979, p. 336.
6. Quraishi 1967, pp. 132–133.
7. Deeb 1979, pp. 337–338.
8. Terry 1982, pp. 241–242: "To achieve victory in the forthcoming spring elections, Mahmud had the electoral districts gerrymandered to the detriment of the Wafd and also reallocated the Parliament seats. Mahmud’s supporters were driven to the polls, while Wafdist voters were harassed."
9. Jankowski 1970, p. 91.
10. Deeb 1979, p. 338.
11. Deeb 1979, p. 400, note 152.
12. Moore 1965, pp. 40–44.
13. Khatib 1954, pp. 486–488.
14. Terry 1982, p. 242.

Sources

• Deeb, Marius (1979). Party Politics in Egypt: the Wafd & its Rivals 1919–1939. Ithaca Press. ISBN   9780903729406.
• Khatib, M.F. (1954). The working of parliamentary institutions in Egypt, 1924-1952 (Thesis). University of Edinburgh.
• Jankowski, James P. (1970). "The Egyptian Blue Shirts and the Egyptian Wafd, 1935-1938". Middle Eastern Studies. 6 (1). Taylor & Francis: 77–95. JSTOR   4282308 – via JSTOR.
• Moore, David F. (1965). The Wafd Party of Egypt: 1936–1945 (Thesis). American University of Beirut. ProQuest   2316005707.
• Quraishi, Zaheer M. (1967). 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.