The battle for the Egyptian Senate elections started in light of unexpected fluctuations in the political maps, where historical political parties described as "the opposition" allied, such as: "The New Wafd Party" and "the Progressive National Unionist Party" with loyalist parties, such as: "The future of a homeland" And “Hama Al-Watan”, in one electoral list, was called “For Egypt.” Also, a left-wing Janan party (appeared in the January 25, 2011 revolution), was joined by the “Social Democratic Party,” and a loyal party defected from the list. Conservatives, "while the" Tomorrow's Party ", headed by Musa Mustafa, took a clear stance, which was to withdraw from running on the list.
In detail, the National Electoral Commission in Egypt, headed by Counselor Lasheen Ibrahim, announced last Saturday that the door to run for the "Senate" elections, scheduled for August 11 and 12, will be closed.
The number of people who applied to nominate them reached 912 individuals, and that included the candidates in the list system and the candidates in the individual system, and the authority also announced that the administrative judiciary in the State Council received appeals on: 22, 23, 24 of this month, and announce the final lists on 26 of it , To start electoral campaigning, and continue until August 8.
A second legislative chamber
The Egyptian Senate was established as a second legislative chamber in addition to the House of Representatives, as part of constitutional amendments that took place in 2019, after the Shura Council was abolished in the 2014 constitution, and it includes 300 members, 100 of whom are elected by absolute list, and 100 by individual list, as it comes from them 100 by appointment, with 10% of seats reserved for women.
The Egyptian parliament has defined the terms of reference for the new council, as it includes discussion of proposals to amend one or more articles of the constitution. And discuss the draft of the general plan for social and economic development. And the ratification of peace and alliance treaties, and all treaties related to sovereign rights.
And discuss draft laws, and draft laws that complement the constitution, which are referred to it by the President of the Republic or the House of Representatives.
Discussing issues referred to the Council by the President of the Republic relating to the general policy of the state, or its policy in Arab or foreign affairs.
A party source, who participated in the negotiations for the "For Egypt" list, said that the list included 11 parties permanently: "The Future of a Nation", "The Wafd", "The Republican People", "The Egyptian Social Democrat", and "National Protectors" , Modern Egypt, the Progressive Unionist National Rally, the Conference, Reform and Development, the National Movement, and Freedom.
Press leaks said that six seats were allocated to the delegation, four for the conference, 10 for homeland protectors, 10 for the Republican people, three for reform and development, two seats for the national movement, three for assembly, three for a social democrat, and 40 for the future of a nation, but it was not possible for Emirates Today to confirm These numbers are correct.
And issued the list, after the announcement of the participating blocs, that it is "electoral, not partisan, and will end as soon as the elections."
Election crossing
The media expert specialized in partisan affairs, Ahmed Allam, told «Emirates Today» that “the list is just an electoral crossing, and reflects the fragility of partisan life and its unpopularity in Egypt, because electoral lists usually have a slight level of political agreement, because they are addressed as a message Unified to an audience, and here what brings the delegation together by gathering, or the old with the new, or the January 25 parties with the loyalist parties ».
"Catching up to the political scene at any cost was the share of some of the participating forces," said Dr. Amr Rabei, a researcher and specialist in party affairs at the Al-Ahram Strategic Studies Center. He continued: «There are at least two parties: the Reform and Development Party and the Social Democratic Party, they had a position on the electoral system, and abandoned it.
The "Social Democratic Party" (leftist), which was one of the most prominent parties of the January revolution, was subjected to a campaign of widespread criticism in press articles and on social media pages, for entering a list with the loyalist parties, as it represents a contradiction with its previous political positions.
For his part, the head of the Unionist Progressive National Rally party, Sayed Abdel Aal, announced that the party aims to compete in all individual seats in the elections, and it will push 30 individual candidates over three candidates in the consolidated list, and will coordinate with other parties.
For his part, and in a gesture that drew the attention of the observers, the "Conservative Party" announced its non-participation in the elections, after the party's presidential council had reviewed the report of the Permanent Elections Committee. The party’s presidential council said, in a statement, that “a number of party candidates on the eastern and western delta lists were subjected to intransigence and harassment while presenting their candidacy papers and conducting a medical examination, and that the party decided not to contest the elections, hoping that this would be a motive to improve the general climate, so that the party could To play its role as a national political party, while respecting party pluralism. ”
In the same context, the "Tomorrow's Party", headed by Musa Mustafa, announced his apology for participating in the "For the sake of Egypt" list, and pledged its support.
A statement to the party said that, “despite the party’s apology for participating in the list, it (the party) is keen not to split the national ranks, and not to withdraw from the coalition, and realizes the importance of the cohesion of the supporters of the June 30 revolution, so it supports (tomorrow's party), and supports (the national list) And he is preparing to participate in the upcoming Parliament elections, within the alliance itself.
The "Social Democratic Party" (leftist), one of the leading parties in the January revolution, was subjected to a campaign of widespread criticism in press articles and on social media pages, for entering a list with the loyalist parties, as it represented a contradiction with its previous political positions.
The Al-Ghad party, headed by Musa Mustafa, announces his apology for participating in the "For the sake of Egypt" list, but he is determined to support it.