Photos: Parliament electoral system sparks debate among political powers at Egypt's National Dialogue

CAIRO – 15 May 2023: The Parliament electoral system has sparked a public debate among MPs and political figures during the National Dialogue sessions on Sunday with proposals to shift away from the current closed list system in the 2025 elections.

Opposition representatives called for adopting the proportional list dialogue instead of the closed list system, which has been in effect in Egypt over the past decade.

 

The proportional list system allows a particular political party to win a number of seats that is proportional to the percent of votes it got during the elections. On the other hand, in the closed list system, the political parties that get the majority of votes in a constituency win all the seats.

During the sessions, a group of parties and politicians expressed their belief that the proportional list system achieves more realistic and democratic representation of people in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

However, the supporters of the closed list system still think it is the most appropriate in Egypt.

 

Yasser El-Hudaybi, Head of the Parliamentary Committee of the Al-Wafd Party in the Senate, said his Party believes that the proportional list strengthens the parties and leads to the presence of a large number of party deputies in Parliament.

However, the presence of the quota, privileged groups, and this constitutional impediment has forced the Party to resort to the closed list system, he added.

Alaa Abed, Vice-President of the majority Nation’s Future Party, believes that the individual candidacy and closed list systems are the most appropriate to the Egyptian legal system and is supported by the parties currently represented in the Parliament.

 

Abed added that the proportional list system had been challenged several times by the Supreme Constitutional Court in 1984, 1987 and 1992.

Nagy El-Shehaby, head of the Democratic Generation Party said the unconditional proportional list is the best electoral system in which votes are not wasted.

He added that this system allows the Parliament to express the people in a fair and correct manner and strengthens the political parties.

 

Shehaby added that the highest representation of the Egyptian opposition was under the unconditional proportional list system in the parliament of 1987.

“I am biased towards this system and I see that it worthy of being a title for the New Republic,” Shehaby stressed.

Mahmoud Salah, a representative of the Homeland Defenders Party said the current closed list electoral system satisfies citizens as it achieves justice and ensures the representation of all segments of people.

He added that the current system ensures the representation of women, youth, Christians, people with disabilities, and other societal categories stipulated by the Constitution.