Preliminary results from the first stage of Egypt's parliamentary elections showed on Tuesday that the majority of the individual seats will witness a run-off round.
The first stage of the elections, which took place on Sunday and Monday in 14 provinces, most notably Giza and Alexandria, witnessed thousands of candidates contesting 226 individual seats with 27 million eligible voters.
No official turnout rate has been announced so far, but media reports suggest that it could be in the range of 15-20 percent. The run-off round is expected to take place on 27-28 October.
The most prominent political parties in the run-off round will be the Free Egyptians Party, which press reports indicate might have more than 40 candidates in the round, as well as the Wafd Party, which has 25 candidates in the run-offs, according to press statements by El-Sayed El-Badawy, the party's chairman.
Moreover, the Salafist Nour Party leader Ahmed El-Sherif said in press statements that his party will be contesting 24 seats in the run-off round, while the chairman of Mostaqbal Watan (Future of a Nation), Mohamed Badran said in press statements that his party is contesting 48 seats in the run-offs.
The most notable faces in the run-off round are Ahmed Mortada Mansour, a Zamalek Club board member and the son of controversial lawyer Mortada Mansour, for the Free Egyptians Party, against independent candidate and former parliamentarian Amr El-Shobakki in a constituency in Giza, as well as Haitham El-Hariry, son of late leftist presidential candidate Abul-Ezz El-Hariry, against numerous independents in Alexandria.
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