Azernews.Az

By Alemat Aliyeva

Egypt’s election authority on 10 January announced the final results of a months-long parliamentary election, confirming a sweeping victory for a pro-government coalition in a vote critics say will further entrench President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s grip on power.

According to the election body, half of the parliament’s seats were allocated through closed party lists, with the remaining half filled by individual candidates. Five per cent of MPs are appointed directly by the president, while a quarter of all seats are reserved for women. The Egyptian parliament comprises 596 seats in total.

Of the seats contested by individual candidates, parties belonging to the pro-government “National List for Egypt” coalition secured 164 seats. Most of the remaining individual seats were won by smaller parties or independents who are also widely viewed as aligned with the government.

The 12-party coalition is led by the pro-Sisi Mostaqbal Watan (Nation’s Future) party and the National Front party, headed by former housing minister Essam al-Gazzar.

The election authority said it had annulled voting results in more than 30 constituencies nationwide in November and December, ordering re-runs after appeals related to vote-counting procedures.

Critics have long argued that Egypt’s parliament plays a limited role in governance, citing the absence of a genuine opposition and the dominance of parties linked to the executive.

Analysts note that the timing of the elections gives them particular significance, as the new parliament will be the last elected body before Sisi’s third and final term ends in 2030.

Under constitutional amendments approved in 2019, presidential terms were extended from four to six years, with Sisi’s earlier term retroactively counted as his first, allowing him to remain in office until 2030.

Sisi’s government, which has faced sustained criticism over its human rights record, launched a national dialogue in 2022 in what was presented as an effort to engage the weakened opposition. Rights groups, however, say the crackdown on dissent has continued, estimating that tens of thousands of political prisoners remain in detention.