Egyptian Shura Council election, 2012

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Egyptian Shura Council election, 2012

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  2010 January 29, 2012 (2012-01-29) – February 22, 2012 (2012-02-22)

180 of 270 seats in the Shura Council
Remaining 90 seats appointed by the President

  First party Second party
  Mohamed Morsi-05-2013.jpg
Leader Mohamed Morsi Emad Abdel Ghaffour
Party Freedom and Justice al-Nour
Seats won 105 45
Popular vote 2,894,922 1,840,014
Percentage 45.0% 28.6%

  Third party Fourth party
  El-Sayyid el-Badawi.jpg AhmedHSaid.jpg
Leader El-Sayyid el-Badawi Ahmed Hassan Said
Party New Wafd Egyptian Bloc
Seats won 14 8
Popular vote 543,417 348,957
Percentage 8.5% 5.4%

Speaker before election

vacant

Elected Speaker

Ahmed Fahmy
Freedom and Justice

Shura Council elections were held in Egypt between 29 January and 22 February 2012. [1] The Freedom and Justice Party emerged as the largest party in the Council, winning 105 of the 180 elected seats.

Shura Council upper house of Egyptian Parliament until 2013

The Shura Council was the upper house of the formerly bicameral Parliament of Egypt. Its name roughly translated into English as "the Consultative Council". The lower house of parliament is the House of Representatives. The council was abolished by the 2014 constitution.

Egypt Country spanning North Africa and Southwest Asia

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, across the Red Sea lies Saudi Arabia, and across the Mediterranean lie Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, although none share a land border with Egypt.

Freedom and Justice Party (Egypt) political party

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is an Egyptian Islamist political party. The ex-president of the party, Mohamed Morsi, won the 2012 presidential election, and in the 2011 parliamentary election it won more seats than any other party. It is nominally independent, but has strong links to the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, the largest political group in Egypt. The party was banned and dissolved in 2014; however, it continues to function underground.

Contents

Background

Parliamentary elections were held in late 2010 and were followed by controversy and repression as well as accusations of fraud. [2]

Following similar events in Tunisia during the Arab Spring, Egyptian activists called for protesters to turn up in cities around Egypt on various specially-designated days of rages. Though violence was reported at some points, protests were largely peaceful with the army staying quiet until 10 February 2011, when calls for Hosni Mubarak to resign were at their peak. The following day, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak's resignation from the presidency while turning power over to the military. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, headed by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi would lead the country for a transitional period until a civilian government takes over.

Arab Spring Protests and revolutions in the Arab world in the 2010s

The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the Middle East in late 2010. It began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, beginning with protests in Tunisia. In the news, social media has been heralded as the driving force behind the swift spread of revolution throughout the world, as new protests appear in response to success stories shared from those taking place in other countries. In many countries, the governments have also recognized the importance of social media for organizing and have shut down certain sites or blocked Internet service entirely, especially in the times preceding a major rally. Governments have also scrutinized or suppressed discussion in those forums through accusing content creators of unrelated crimes or shutting down communication on specific sites or groups, such as through Facebook.

Egyptian Armed Forces combined military forces of Egypt

The Egyptian Armed Forces are the state military organisation responsible for the defense of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptian Air Force and Egyptian Air Defense Command.

Hosni Mubarak 20th and 21st-century Egyptian president and politician

Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak is a former Egyptian military and political leader who served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.

A constitutional referendum was then approved on 19 March. [3]

Electoral system

At the time of the election the Shura Council had 270 seats, of which 90 were appointed and 180 elected. [4] Of the 180 elected seats, 60 were elected by majority voting in single-member constituencies, and 120 by proportional representation based on the total number of votes cast in the constituencies. [4] Voting was compulsory, with a potential £20 fine for non-voters. [4]

Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. If n% of the electorate support a particular political party, then roughly n% of seats will be won by that party. The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result - not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts, as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, the implementations of PR that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats.

Party lists had to include at least one woman candidate, and had to pass a 0.5% electoral threshold to win a proportional representation seat. [4] For the constituency seats, candidates were required to win over 50% of the vote and for there to be either a farmer or worker elected from their constituency in order to be elected in the first round. [4] Run-offs would be when no candidate won over 50% of the vote in a constituency, and in cases where two candidates achieved over 50%, but neither of them were workers or farmers, the candidate with the highest number of votes would be declared elected, and a run-off held between the highest ranking workers and farmers. [4]

The elections were held in two stages; a first stage on 29 and 30 January, with run-offs on 5 and 6 February, and a second stage on 14 and 15 February, with run-offs on 21 and 22 February. [1] [5] There were originally plans to hold the elections in three stages, with the third stage taking place on 4–5 March and run-offs on 11–12 March, but in early January 2012, the election process was sped up to shorten the transition period. [6]

Campaign

The liberal Free Egyptians Party announced a boycott of the elections, complaining about irregularities during the preceding parliamentary elections and denouncing the Shura Council elections as a "waste of time". [7]

Results

Percentage of elected seats

   FJP (58.33%)
   Al-Nour (25%)
   New Wafd (7.78%)
   Egyptian Bloc (4.44%)
   Freedom (1.67%)
   Democratic peace (0.56%)
  Independents (2.22%)
e    d  Summary of the 2012 elections for the Shura Council
PartyProportional representation FPTP Total
seats
Votes%SeatsSeats
Freedom and Justice Party 2,894,92245.045649105
Islamist Bloc 1,840,01428.6338745
New Wafd Party 543,4178.4514014
Egyptian Bloc 348,9575.43808
Freedom Party 84,9361.32303
Democratic Peace Party 95,2731.48101
Independents44
Presidential appointees90
Total6,427,66610012060270

First phase

The first phase included the governorates of Alexandria, Asyut, Cairo, Dakahlia, Damietta, Faiyum, Gharbia, Monufia, New Valley, North Sinai, Qena, Red Sea and South Sinai. Voter turnout for the first phase was at 15%, while turnout for its run-off was down to 6%. [8]

First phase assigned seats

   FJP (58.89%)
   Al-Nour (21.11%)
   New Wafd (6.67%)
   Egyptian Bloc (5.56%)
   Freedom (2.22%)
   Democratic peace (1.11%)
  Independents (4.44%)
e    d  
PartyProportional representation FPTP Total
seats
Votes%SeatsSeats
Freedom and Justice Party 1,577,05444.50282553
Al-Nour Party 1,007,33828.4218119
New Wafd Party 304,9338.60606
Egyptian Bloc 227,4376.42505
Freedom Party 38,7501.09202
Democratic Peace Party 43,7861.24101
Independents44
Total3,543,972100603090
Source: Supreme Committee for Elections [1] , List of FJP FPTP candidates [9]

Second phase

The polls of the second phase were held in Giza, Sharqiya, Kafr el-Sheikh, Qalyubia, Aswan, Sohag, Luxor, Beni Suef, Minya, Matrouh, Beheira, Suez, Ismailia and Port Said. The turnout in the second phase on 14–15 February was at 12.2%. [8] According to the Higher Elections Commission, 3 million out of around 25 million eligible voters cast their votes. The number of invalid votes was 252,899. [10]

Second phase assigned seats

   FJP (57.78%)
   Al-Nour (28.89%)
   New Wafd (8.89%)
   Egyptian Bloc (3.33%)
   Freedom (1.11%)
e    d  
PartyProportional representation FPTP Total
seats
Votes%SeatsSeats
Freedom and Justice Party 1,317,86845.70282452
Al-Nour Party 832,67628.8820626
New Wafd Party 238,4848.27808
Egyptian Bloc 121,5204.21303
Freedom 46,1861.60101
Total2,883,694100603090
Source: Supreme Committee for Elections, [1] FJP, [11] Al-Nour [12]

Aftermath

During the first Shura Council session on 28 February 2012, FJP member Ahmed Fahmy was elected speaker. [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The official website of Supreme Committee for Elections". Supreme Committee for Elections.
  2. Flock, Elizabeth (29 November 2011). "Egypt elections marred by allegations of fraud". washington post.
  3. "Official Referendum Website".
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Majlis Ash-Shura (Shoura Assembly) IPU
  5. El Gundy, Zeinab (27 Sep 2011). "SCAF finally reveals parliamentary elections dates and roadmap". ahramonline.
  6. "Egypt's elections to wrap up sooner than expected". france24. 2012-01-01.
  7. "Free Egyptians party announces boycott of upper house elections", Ahram Online, 9 January 2012, retrieved 13 January 2012
  8. 1 2 "Turnout at 12.2 percent for 2nd round of Egypt's upper house polls", China Daily, 18 February 2012
  9. "بيان إعلامي رقم ( 8 )". FJP.
  10. "Turnout in 2nd stage of Shura elections 12.2%", Pharaohs Today, 18 February 2012
  11. "البيان الإعلامي رقم (11) لحزب الحرية والعدالة: نتائج الفرز". FJP.
  12. "مرشحي حزب النور - فردى - لمجلس الشورى بمحافظات المرحلة الثانية". Al-Nour Party.
  13. "Brotherhood's Fahmy named Egypt Shura Council speaker". Ahram Online. 28 February 2012.