Parliament ready for elections - Egypt - Al-Ahram Weekly
On Sunday, MPs approved amendments to three laws: Law 40/2014 regulating the performance of the House of Representatives; Law 174/2020 regarding the division of the House's electoral districts; and Law 141/2020 regulating the election and performance of the second chamber, the Senate.
The amendments were drafted and submitted by Abdel-Hadi Al-Qasabi, the spokesman of the parliamentary majority party Mostaqbal Watan (the Nation's Future), and 60 MPs.
The amendments to the House law state that the number of elected MPs will stand at 568 — in addition to 28 appointees — in line with articles 87 and 102 of Egypt's 2019 amended constitution.
Article 3 of Law 40/2014 states that half this number (284 seats) will be elected via the individual candidacy system (independent candidates), and half (another 284 seats) through the closed list system. An additional 28 MPs (five per cent) will be appointed by the president, and 25 per cent of the total number of House seats (125) are reserved for women.
Article 4 states that Egypt will be divided into several districts designated for electing individual candidates (independents), while four districts will be reserved for electing candidates on the closed lists. Two of these districts are allocated 80 seats (40 each), and the other two districts are allocated 204 seats (102 each).
Article 5 indicates that each list that is allocated 40 seats must include at least 20 women candidates, three Christian candidates, two candidates representing workers and farmers, two representing young people, one representing the physically disabled, and one representing Egyptian expatriates.
In addition, each list allocated 102 candidates must include at least 51 women candidates, nine Christian candidates, six candidates representing workers and farmers, six representing young people, three representing special needs individuals, and three representing Egyptian expatriates.
During the one-day debate on the law, sharp divisions emerged between political parties and independent MPs over the election system for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Opposition MPs insisted that the amendments adopting the closed list system in the election represent a stark violation of the recommendations passed by the National Dialogue last year. The dialogue, held upon the instructions of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi between 2022 and 2024, recommended that an open proportional list system be adopted in the 2025 election to elect all the House and Senate members or a mix of three election systems — individual, closed, and open proportional lists — be used so that 50 per cent of MPs and senators are elected through the first, 25 per cent through the second, and 25 through the third.
Al-Qasabi said the amendments to the three laws are in keeping with articles 87 and 102 of Egypt's 2019 amended constitution, which give citizens the right to vote and run in elections and also obliges legislators to observe the division of electoral districts according to a set of criteria, including population growth and geographical location. 'As a result, amendments reflect the population increase that has exceeded 7,400,000 people since 2020 when the last parliamentary election was held,' said Al-Qasabi, adding that 'this fact necessitated the submission of a new draft that takes this change into account, establishes the principle of equality and justice, and achieves balance between the various governorates, so that the next parliament can reflect Egypt's demographic map in a just and comprehensive manner.'
Al-Qasabi said the draft law's maintenance of the closed list system was largely because it ensures that marginalised groups such as women, Christians, workers, farmers, youth, the disabled, and expats are fairly represented on party lists. Al-Qasabi added that the closed list system was also the best option for Egypt as it helps preserve internal stability and creates a parliament with a reliable majority that can vote on important laws and agreements. 'This is quite impossible with the open proportional list system because it only leads to creating a fragmented parliament without a majority and allows 'banned groups' to infiltrate the House and the Senate,' Al-Qasabi said.
Mustafa Bakri, an independent MP, said the 50-50 election system (50 per cent for individuals and 50 per cent for party lists) is in line with the constitution. 'We saw how the 25-75 system [25 per cent for individuals and 75 per cent for party lists] was invalidated by the Supreme Constitutional Court and led to parliament being dissolved in 2012,' said Bakri, also noting that 'the adoption of the proportional list system was invalidated by the court in 1948.'
The closed system means that a party which wins 51 per cent of the votes in any district will take all that district's seats. This is different from the proportional list system in which each party list is allocated seats in proportion to the votes it wins per district.
Opposition MPs, however, teamed up to attack the amendments. Ahmed Al-Sharqawi, an MP affiliated with the leftist Egyptian Social Democratic Party, said the objective of Al-Sisi's call for a national dialogue was to introduce reforms and save political life from stagnation. 'By maintaining the closed list system, we announce the continuation of the stagnation of political life and lacklustre elections with no competition,' said Al-Sharqawi, adding 'the move also means that the national dialogue was just kind of window-dressing.'
MP Ihab Mansour, head of the parliamentary bloc of the Egyptian Socialist Democratic Party, said people had lost interest and confidence in elections in recent years because of the closed list system. 'The number of voters has decreased and turnout rates have declined because people see that there is no serious competition at all under the closed list system and that the election results are a foregone conclusion,' said Mansour.
He also explained that in the National Dialogue's sessions 'many visions were presented regarding the electoral system, and all agreed that the open proportional list system can provide fair representation for all marginalised groups, whether Christians, women, youth, the physically challenged, or expats.'
Mansour said the size of the districts and the amount of money needed to launch an effective campaign under the closed list system would make it impossible for most political parties to contest the election. 'So just one or two political parties which are rich and pro-regime will run in nominal elections and win the vote,' Mansour said.
Joining forces, leftist MP Diaaeddin Dawoud said most of the participants in the National Dialogue called for changing the electoral system to be more inclusive and pluralistic, and that a mix of the individual and the open proportional list system can achieve this. 'The consensus over the proportional list system shows that people are dissatisfied with the closed list system as it creates toothless parliaments with fake majority parties that do nothing but rubber-stamp laws,' Dawoud said.
MPs also approved a draft bill on the composition and election of the Senate. The draft envisions a 300-member Senate, with a third of members elected via the closed list system, another third through the individual system, and the remaining third named by the president. Ten per cent of the seats will be reserved for women.
Article 3 of Law 141/2020 states that Egypt will be divided into 27 districts designated for electing individual candidates (independents), while four districts will be reserved for electing candidates on the closed lists. Two of these districts are allocated 74 seats (37 each), and the other two districts are allocated 26 seats (13 each).
* A version of this article appears in print in the 29 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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