Egyptians apathetic as vote begins for upper house of parliament

Cairo: Polling stations in 13 Egyptian provinces, where the first stage of the vote for the advisory upper house of parliament runs for two, looked almost empty on Sunday in the nation’s second election since a revolt unseated long-standing president Hosni Mubarak in February.

The meagre turnout for electing the Shura Council contrasted the strong voter showing in polls for the People’s Assembly or the lower house of parliament held in late November through mid-January.

“People are convinced that the Shura Council has no real powers and that the real authority lies with the People’s Assembly that enacts laws,” said Abdul Gafour Shukri, a leftist politician. “Islamists are set to sweep the Shura election too,” he added.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the hardline Salafist Al Nour Party, which hold two-thirds of the legislature, are vying for the majority of the Shura seats.

Ninety seats are at stake in the first phase of the vote contested by a total of 1,640 candidates, according to election officials. The second and final stage is scheduled for February 14 in the other 14 of Egypt’s 27 provinces.

Two-thirds of the Shura Council’s 270 members are elected. The other third are appointed by the head of the state.

The body, the term of which runs for six years, has the mandate to make advice on draft bills before they are debated and approved by the legislature.

Several polling stations visited by Gulf News in Cairo on Sunday had very small numbers of voters. “I have come to cast my ballot to help advance Egypt’s democratic transformation,” said Fekri Hamouda, one of very few voters who showed up at a polling booth in northern Cairo.

To him, the Shura election is significant. “This is the first Shura to be elected since the revolution against Mubarak. More importantly, under recent constitutional amendments, both the Shura and the People’s Assembly will be responsible for selecting the committee that will be tasked with drafting the new constitution,” he told this newspaper.

Some political parties and individual contenders had pulled out of the race for the Shura, saying they do not have the means to campaign in large electoral districts. Like the legislative election, the Shura vote is based on a complicated system combining party lists and single candidacy.

Pro-reform Mohammad Al Baradei has suggested the council be cancelled to bring forward a crucial presidential vote. “The Shura election is a waste of time and money. I expect this council to be abolished in the new constitution,” Al Baradei wrote on his twitter account on Friday.

A military council, which has been ruling Egypt since Mubarak’s toppling last February, has pledged to transfer power to a civilian administration after a new president is elected next June.