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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.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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]
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]
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]
Party | Proportional representation | FPTP | Total seats | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Seats | |||
Freedom and Justice Party | 2,894,922 | 45.04 | 56 | 49 | 105 | |
Islamist Bloc | 1,840,014 | 28.63 | 38 | 7 | 45 | |
New Wafd Party | 543,417 | 8.45 | 14 | 0 | 14 | |
Egyptian Bloc | 348,957 | 5.43 | 8 | 0 | 8 | |
Freedom Party | 84,936 | 1.32 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
Democratic Peace Party | 95,273 | 1.48 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Independents | – | – | – | 4 | 4 | |
Presidential appointees | – | – | – | – | 90 | |
Total | 6,427,666 | 100 | 120 | 60 | 270 |
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]
Party | Proportional representation | FPTP | Total seats | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Seats | |||
Freedom and Justice Party | 1,577,054 | 44.50 | 28 | 25 | 53 | |
Al-Nour Party | 1,007,338 | 28.42 | 18 | 1 | 19 | |
New Wafd Party | 304,933 | 8.60 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
Egyptian Bloc | 227,437 | 6.42 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
Freedom Party | 38,750 | 1.09 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
Democratic Peace Party | 43,786 | 1.24 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Independents | – | – | – | 4 | 4 | |
Total | 3,543,972 | 100 | 60 | 30 | 90 | |
Source: Supreme Committee for Elections [1] , List of FJP FPTP candidates [9] |
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]
Party | Proportional representation | FPTP | Total seats | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Seats | |||
Freedom and Justice Party | 1,317,868 | 45.70 | 28 | 24 | 52 | |
Al-Nour Party | 832,676 | 28.88 | 20 | 6 | 26 | |
New Wafd Party | 238,484 | 8.27 | 8 | 0 | 8 | |
Egyptian Bloc | 121,520 | 4.21 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
Freedom | 46,186 | 1.60 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Total | 2,883,694 | 100 | 60 | 30 | 90 | |
Source: Supreme Committee for Elections, [1] FJP, [11] Al-Nour [12] |
During the first Shura Council session on 28 February 2012, FJP member Ahmed Fahmy was elected speaker. [13]
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