Egyptians vote in last day of parliamentary elections

Ahram Online , Wednesday 16 Dec 2015

Voting process
An Egyptian woman casts her vote during the first round of Egyptian parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Alexandria, Egypt, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015 (Photo: AP)

Poll stations opened on Wednesday for the electoral run-offs of 13 MPs in four electoral districts, marking the last day of Egypt’s parliamentary polls.

The run-offs took place in two districts in Upper Egypt's Beni Suef, and one in each of the Mediterranean governorates of Beheira and Alexandria, on 14 and 15 December for Egyptians abroad and 15 and 16 December within Egypt.

According to High Elections Committee spokesperson Omar Marawan, none of the 26 individual candidates in the four districts were successful in securing the 50-plus-one majority needed to win last week, a result that required run-offs.

So far, 316 independent candidates secured seats in the parliament while 239 party-affiliated candidates secured seats, constituting a total of 555 seats.

The total number of members in the new parliament will be 596.

Twenty-eight members of parliament will be appointed by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The first session of parliament is due to take place before the end of the year.

Since his election in June 2014, President El-Sisi has held legislative powers in the absence of a parliament.

The first task of the new parliament will be to vote within two weeks of convening on all laws issued by El-Sisi and his predecessor, interim president Adly Mansour, who held office from July 2013 to June 2014.

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