The turnout rate in the first phase of Egypt’s House of Representatives elections was 26.56 percent with 7,278,594 Egyptians casting their votes, the Supreme Elections Commission (SEC) said on Wednesday.
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Official sources first claimed an interim turnout rate at 16 percent, a number later raised to 26.6 percent.
A low turnout has characterised the first part of Egypt’s two stage parliamentary election.
The president may actually be able to mint a few political currency from the low turn out by asserting that Egyptians are now more supportive of him than of the parliament.
Again similarly to the presidential elections in May 2014, the authorities decided at the end of the first day to give public employees a half-day off (Monday afternoon) in order to enable them to participate in the elections.
Security forces have killed hundreds of Islamists and arrested thousands of others since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Brotherhood in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
“For the Love of Egypt”, a coalition of parties led by former intelligence officer and military general Sameh Seif Elyazal, won all 60 list-based seats contested in round one and is expected to secure the remaining 60 seats in the next voting round on November 22-23.
Out of 2,548 candidates vying for 226 individual seats in the first round, only four candidates were declared final winners, according to the commission chief. “All in all, I don’t think he is a loser from what happened”, said Amr Adly, non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center.
The group won 45 seats in Giza and Upper Egypt and another 15 in the West Delta.
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Critics say the emphasis on individuals makes it more likely for figures with cash and connections to dominate, much as they did under Mubarak.
