Pro-Sisi list tops polls with first round voter turnout of 26.56%

The pro-government For the Love of Egypt electoral list swept the polls in the first round of Egypt’s parliamentary elections, the head of the High Elections Commission Ayman Abbas announced in a press conference on Wednesday evening.

For the Love of Egypt list was formed in response to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s plea for a unified front in parliament, and is composed of 10 parties and several public figures — including security experts, former parliamentarians and businessmen.

The coalition is made up of the Conference Party, Conservative Party, Nation’s Future Party, Reform and Development Party and the Wafd Party, among others.

The turnout at polls was reportedly 26.56 percent, meaning 7,270,594 out of 27,402,353 of those registered cast their ballots, with almost 10 percent of the ballots disqualified, according to the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper.

This is much lower than the turnout for the 2012 parliamentary elections, which was 59 percent, with the final turnout at 52 percent, the highest level of electoral participation since the 2011 revolution. 

According to the HEC, the highest voter turnout in these elections was in the New Valley Governorate, at 37 percent, and the lowest in Giza, at 21 percent. ​

Only four individual candidates (out of a total of 2,548 candidates running in the first phase) secured seats, while 222 seats will be contested in the run-offs next week, for which the front runners will compete again.

Television presenter Abdel Rehim Ali won with a clear majority in Agouza district in Giza, Mohamed Dessouky in Assiut City and Mohamed al-Basha in the Dairut district of Assiut — both in Upper Egypt, as well as Gamal Farrag in the Kharga Oasis distrcit of the New Valley governorate. 

The run-offs in 103 electoral districts are scheduled for October 27 and 28, with expats casting their votes overseas on October 26 and 27.

During a press conference on Tuesday, the HEC announced that For the Love of Egypt also swept the polls in the overseas vote, gaining half of the 30,000 votes cast abroad. 

Mada Masr reporters and election observers noted widespread confusion about the makeup of the vote and the role of lists and coalitions.

"I'm not sure how the list system works. I think I may have incorrectly marked my ballot," Mostafa Mohamed told Mada Masr after he voted outside the largely empty Ahmed Oraby school in Badrashin, South Giza. 

Abbas described the elections as being "free, fair and transparent," adding that there were no violations serious enough to obstruct the process of democracy. 

He said violations were present in just 3 percent of polling stations nationwide, including the late opening of polls, campaigning violations and non-notification of judges, but maintained they were all dealt with swiftly. 

This is in contrast to a large number of violations reported by observers and journalists across the two days of voting. 

There are a total of 596 seats in the parliament, 448 of which are elected and 28 appointed by the president.