Egypt has just completed the second and final round of parliamentary elections, including runoffs. It is, unfortunately, a legislature of, by, and for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. For example, every single one of the sixty winners of the runoff on the party list competition was from “for Love of Egypt,” the vehemently pro-Sisi coalition. 6.2 million voters took part in runoff elections of the 2d round. Certainly, turnout in Egyptian elections has dropped precipitously. In 2011, the last parliamentary poll drew 62 percent of the registered voters. For the second round’s runoff, d turnout was under 22%. Looking at the exclusion of candidates, these elections were undemocratic.
Awakening U.S. Government critics is particularly likely looking at the State Department’s annual human rights report. At the start of this year, that report addressed last year’s 2014 election of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and said that the context was “not conducive to genuine democratic elections” and that “limits on the freedom of expression and assembly ‘impaired’ the process.”
Similar criticism of the current 2015 parliamentary elections is likely to come from U.S. Government critics. Besides the State Department, another center of observation of Egyptian affairs has been in the U.S. Senate, particularly Senator Patrick Leahy, senior Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees aid funds to Egypt. Senator Leahy, voicing concerns similar to those quoted below, said to Forbes.com on November 9th that “free and fair elections are about far more than casting ballots. Just as important is the ability of opposition parties to organize and candidates to participate without interference in the months and weeks leading up to election day. Egypt today, where political parties are banned and their leaders imprisoned, makes a mockery of the most fundamental principles of democracy.”
Full Article: Egypt’s Parliamentary Election Ends On An Undemocratic Note – Forbes.
