Initial results of the second stage of the parliamentary elections showed that five individual opposition candidates were able to win seats while three qualified for the run-offs.
The parliamentary elections across Egypt witnessed a notable and significant number of individual opposition candidates running either as independents or as affiliated with political parties. They had decided to contest the polls despite the overwhelming influence of “political money” and the dominance of pro-government parties.
The initial vote count revealed that eight individual opposition candidates were able to gain tens of thousands of votes, thus demonstrating their support and securing a strong position in the run-off round.
The second stage of the elections included 13 governorates — Cairo, Qalioubiya, Daqahliya, Menoufiya, Gharbiya, Kafr Al-Sheikh, Sharqiya, Damietta, Ismailia, Suez, Port Said, North Sinai, and South Sinai.
In Damietta, the results showed that former opposition MP Diaaeddin Dawoud and Maamoun Al-Gogari, candidate of pro-government party Homat Watan (Protectors of the Homeland), were able to win two individual seats.
Dawoud, who ran as an independent, won 28,282 votes, while Al-Gogari got 30,869. Dawoud belongs to a political family that served under the regime of late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser.
After winning the seat, Dawoud vowed that he would continue attacking the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli.
He told Al-Ahram Weekly that he was proud of the trust that voters had placed in him.
“Let me express my deep gratitude to every free citizen who decided to exercise the right to vote without succumbing to the power of political money and the influence of pro-regime political parties,” Dawoud said.
“I hope to live up to the trust that the people of Damietta have put in me for the third time.”
Dawoud said the opposition has a clear agenda for the new parliament, which includes introducing political reforms as recommended by the 2023-24 National Dialogue.
He was earlier an independent MP with Nasserist leanings and had used to attack the privatisation policies adopted by Madbouli’s government in line with its agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Dawoud accused the Madbouli government of excessive borrowing and burdening Egypt with debts that left the economy highly vulnerable to external shocks. Along with a few other opposition MPs, he has frequently asked Madbouli to resign or for him to be fired by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi.
Abdel-Moneim Imam, head of the opposition Adl (Justice) Party, was also able to win the seat for East Cairo’s Tagammu and Shorouk district.
According to an official statement, the total number of valid votes cast in the Tagammu and Shorouk district stood at 31,382, of which Imam won 19,954, achieving a percentage of 63.6 per cent.
However, he scored less than the pro-government Mostaqbal Watan Party’s candidate Mohamed Shedid Al-Hennawi, who got 26,184 votes.
Imam, who was elected an MP for the first time in 2020, has been an outspoken critic of the Madbouli government. He was secretary of parliament’s Budget Committee and had held the government responsible for Egypt’s debt crisis.
In a message of appreciation to the people of the Tagammu and Shorouk district, Imam said that “this victory is yours, and I will be the defender of your interests. Egypt deserves more justice and freedoms, and our people deserve better services and rights.”
“We will continue to fight in the new parliament for social justice, political liberties, and economic prudence.”
Imam was one of few MPs who attacked the decision to re-appoint Madbouli as prime minister for the second time in July 2024. He refused to approve the Madbouli government’s policy statement before parliament, describing it as “nonsense”.
Imam was one of the most important symbols of the opposition in the 2020-25 parliament, and his success in the 2025 elections carries with it a number of important messages that should not go unnoticed.
One is that the Adl Party was able to perform well with the public, its success being not limited to winning an individual seat in Tagammu, but also several of its candidates were able to enter the run-off round, reflecting its ability to build a relationship of trust with citizens in different districts.
The vote count in South Cairo’s district of Dar Al-Salam and Bassateen also brought a surprise with the victory of Islam Akmal Qortam, son of oil tycoon Akmal Qortam who is also the head of the opposition Conservative Party. The latter is a member of the Civil Movement that calls for greater political reforms and freedoms.
Islam Akmal Qortam won 15,865 votes (85 per cent) in the elections, thus coming ahead of all 20 candidates who ran in the Dar Al-Salam and Bassateen district. Ali Abdel-Wanees, candidate of the pro-regime party of Homat Watan, came second with 14,175 votes. Islam Akmal Qortam will now join parliament for the first time.
Ahmed Farghali, an independent MP who contested the seat of Port Said, also came ahead of nine rivals, winning 16,423 votes. Al-Husseini Abu Qamar, an independent MP, came second with 10,771 votes.
Farghali, another harsh critic of the financial and economic policies of the Madbouli government, was elected an MP in 2020 for the first time. “The people of Port Said know that I am a sharp critic of the government, and this explains why they decided to vote for me,” Farghali said.
Mohamed Mustafa Khalifa, candidate of the Islamist opposition party Nour, also won the highest number of votes in the Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate’s first district. Khalifa came first with 44,541 votes, while Mostaqbal Watan’s candidate Mohamed Orabi came second with 35,809.
Khalifa, a professor of agricultural economy, will join parliament for the first time. His party, the ultraconservative religious party of Nour, is another sharp critic of the policies of the Madbouli government. The Nour Party deputies refused to approve the government’s policy statement before parliament in July 2024.
Another three opposition MPs were able to qualify for the run-off round, which is scheduled to be held on 15-18 December.
In Mansoura, capital of Daqahliya governorate, independent candidate Ahmed Al-Sharkawi was one of four candidates who were able to get the highest number of votes. In the run-off round, two candidates will need to win the two seats reserved for the Mansoura district.
Al-Sharkawi got 12,843 votes in the first round, and he is also a fierce critic of the Madbouli government’s policies. He also participated in the National Dialogue meetings, calling for greater political reforms and democratisation.
In the Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate’s district of Dessouq, Mohamed Abdel-Alim Dawoud, veteran candidate of the opposition party Wafd, was one of six candidates who got the highest number of votes. Dawoud came second with 38,421 votes, next only to Mostaqbal Watan candidate Adel Al-Naggar who got 39,318.
Dawoud has been a Wafd MP since 2005. He was a sharp critic of the regime of late president Hosni Mubarak and the liberal policies of his younger son Gamal. He has launched several scathing attacks against Madbouli and his government’s privatisation policies.
In Gharbiya governorate’s industrial district of Mahalla Al-Kobra, Ahmed Bilal Al-Borrollosi, candidate of the leftist Tagammu Party, will be one of six candidates running in the run-off round.
Al-Borrollosi came third with 18,150 votes. He posted a video last week showing citizens receiving money for their votes near a polling station in Mahalla Al-Kobra. Al-Borrollosi was elected MP for the first time in 2020.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 4 December, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: