Egyptians vote in 2nd stage of parliamentary election
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Egyptians began voting Saturday in the second and final stage of the country’s parliamentary elections, after a relatively low turnout in the first stage that embarrassed the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
Polling centers opened at 9 a.m. in 13 of Egypt’s 27 provinces, including the capital Cairo and the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. El-Sissi casted his ballot early Wednesday in Cairo’s Heliopolis district, according to his office. More than 31 million people are eligible to vote in this stage.
People wait to vote at a polling station during the second round of parliamentary elections in Cairo, Egypt. EPA-EFE/KHALED ELFIQI
The government deployed thousands of police and troops to safeguard the two-day vote. Precautionary measures were also taken to stem the spread of coronavirus pandemic, amid warnings by the government about a second wave of the pandemic. Egypt has shown a slight increase in daily confirmed cases in the past two weeks.
A total of 568 seats in the lower chamber are up for grabs in the election, with half the seats reserved for candidates running as individuals. The other 50% of seats in the House of Representatives are for over 1,100 candidates running on four party lists.
The president will name 28 seats, or 5%, bringing the total number of seats in the lower chamber to 596.
A quota of 25% of the seats are reserved for women, according to constitutional amendments approved in a national referendum last year.
