CAIRO: Only four out of the 226 individual-system seats contested in the first phase of Egypt’s parliamentary elections were secured in the first round.
Initial results showed that four candidates were able to reach the 50 percent plus one majority vote in their constituencies required to win the seats. One of the now-parliament members elect is TV presenter Abdel Rehim Ali, who obtained 45,049 votes in Giza’s Dokki and Agouza constituency.
Two other members, Mohamed Hamdy al-Desouky and Mohamed Eid Abdel Gawad secured their seats from the first round in Asyut’s constituencies of Asyut city and Dairut respectively. The fourth parliament member is Gamal Adam who obtained 14,800 votes in the Al Kharga constituency in the Weetern Desert’s New Valley governorate.
The said figures are unofficial results informed by media correspondents who attended the vote-counting at the close of polling stations Monday night. The official result are to be announced Thursday, the High Elections Committee said Monday.
A total of 444 candidates, contesting for the remaining 222 individual-system seats, have qualified to the runoff election scheduled for Oct., 27 and 28.
Media reports also said that the “For The Love of Egypt” coalition, which includes 10 parties and many public figures, has swept to victory in the winner-takes-all list-based system winning the 45 seats allocated for the Upper Egypt region and the 15 seats allocated for the West Delta.
Egypt’s House of Representatives will comprise of 596 members, with 448 to be elected as independents, 120 through the winner-take-all party lists system, with 28 seats to be appointed by the president, HEC announced in a news conference late August.
Egypt has not had a parliament since June 2012, after the Islamist-dominated People’s Assembly was dissolved per a court order about six months after its election.