The curtain has fallen on the Senate elections in Egypt, with a low turnout and intense debate about the feasibility of the council in general, and the authority's insistence on holding elections in light of the outbreak of the Corona virus in particular.

Elections were held on Tuesday and Wednesday to choose 200 members of the council, which will represent the second chamber of the Egyptian parliament and will act as an advisory body without legislative powers, noting that there are 100 of its members appointed by the President of the Republic.

According to Reuters, it is expected that supporters of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will dominate the Senate, knowing that a third of the members choose the absolute list system, and participation in the elections was limited to one list that is supposed to be affiliated with the authority and has become a guarantor of victory in the absence of a competitor.

Competition in these elections was limited to the one-third allocated to individual seats, but it was not without control of the authority, as activists and observers say that the candidacy was with the approval of the security authorities and under their hearing and eyesight.

According to the Anadolu Agency, the polls took place without concern for a large segment of the Egyptian people, amid local reports talking about the voters ’reluctance to participate, matched by efforts to urge them to attend the polling committees, by several means, including artistic performances in front of these committees.

Artistic and acrobatic performances

The newspaper, which is close to the authority, broadcast a video clip of youth artistic performances in front of the electoral commissions in the Fifth Settlement, east of the capital, Cairo To encourage citizens to vote, these performances included acrobatic performances.

The same newspaper also published video statements by the popular singers Mahmoud al-Laithi and Hamo Beka, urging citizens to participate in the Senate elections.

At the same time, and in what appears to be an attempt to intimidate the abstention from voting, Bahaa El Din Abu Shaqa, Chairman of the Legislative Committee in the House of Representatives, said in a press statement that the authorities will impose a fine of 500 pounds (about 32 dollars) for those who fail to cast their electoral votes without an excuse. .

Newspapers also published statements by the head of the National Elections Commission, Lashin Ibrahim, in which he stressed that all electoral crimes do not lapse with the passage of time, pledging to apply the fine stipulated for those who fail to vote in the Senate elections, in accordance with the Law on the Exercise of Political Rights issued in 2014 and amended by Law No. 140 For the year 2020.

Despite official efforts to encourage voters to participate, cameras in the local media, including those loyal to the government, captured the polling stations almost completely empty in various governorates.

Meanwhile, Egyptian activists published video clips on the communication platforms of cards to purchase food supplies that are distributed to voters at a value of 100 pounds (about $ 7), on the condition that they cast their votes in the elections, in addition to distributing food commodities and bribes in front of the polling stations.

In violation of the law that obliges candidates to remain silent, political propaganda spread in front of the polling stations through cars carrying loudspeakers and propaganda posters for parties and candidates, as well as the traditional scene of women dancing on the beat of patriotic songs.

Senate elections for Egyptians were held on Tuesday and Wednesday, after being held abroad on the last Sunday and Monday. While the run-off will be held on September 6 and 7 for Egyptians abroad, and on the 8 and 9 of the same month inside, with the announcement of the final results no later than September 16.

787 candidates are competing in the individual system, while only one list loyal to the Egyptian regime has run for candidates, and only 5% of those who have the right to vote are required to declare their victory.

The Senate came as a result of constitutional amendments approved in April 2019, allowing President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to remain in power until 2023, amid widespread opposition from the opposition, while the government has repeatedly said that the council is "a step to consolidate democracy and enrich the parliamentary experience" in the country.

According to opposition criticism, the new council is similar to the Shura Council (1980-2012), which was finally canceled in 2014, on the grounds that it was accused of political corruption, lack of powers and burdening the state budget with financial burdens, in addition to the fact that a third of its deputies are appointed by the country's president.

In its coverage of the elections, the French Press Agency said that it is unlikely that the elections will trigger the stagnation that affected the political scene under President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, as candidates supporting Al-Sisi participated in them, "after most of the opposition voices inside and outside the Legislative Council were muzzled since he took office in 2014."

"I don't think it (the Senate) will be an addition to the already stagnant political life in Egypt ... it could be useful in giving some kind of reward to those who President Sisi wants to reward them for their support for his regime," Agence France-Presse quoted Cairo University political science professor Mostafa Kamel Al-Sayed as saying.

Al-Sisi came to power after he led a military coup during his tenure as Minister of Defense, overthrowing the elected President Mohamed Morsi, which sparked major divisions in Egyptian society, and the years of Sisi's rule witnessed widespread prosecutions of opponents as well as a massive increase in the size of debts.

“These are directives, not elections.” The mayor calls on the people of his village in # Fayoum to vote in the Shura Council elections, stressing that whether or not participation will change the result pic.twitter.com/UgscdgTjFe

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) August 11, 2020