Arab Forum for Alternatives

Abstract

Voter turnout in the parliamentary elections in Egypt in 2015 did not even reach 25% and was thus as low as under Husni Mubarak, in spite of the fact that President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi could then count on substantial support among the Egyptian population. This lack of interest among voters, argues the Arab Forum for Alternatives in „Egyptian parliamentary elections and the political path“, can be explained by the predictable outcome of the elections in favor of the ruling elite.

The policy brief of the AFA series “Papers Alternatives” discusses the Egyptian elections against the background of the exclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood and the electoral boycott of several opposition parties. It shows why the elections cannot be considered as free and fair. In contrast to the pre-2011 elections where manipulations happened at the polling stations themselves, in 2015 major problems included the design of the electoral law as well as inflammatory campaigns in several media outlets against candidates critical of the regime. The fact that the winner was an electoral list that supported al-Sisi, yet did not have any organizational structure like the ruling party before 2011, shows that the security forces remain the only strong political actor in Egypt.

The Arab Forum for Alternatives, a think tank based in Cairo/ Egypt, is a cooperation partner of PRIF in the research project “Socioeconomic Protests and Political Transformation: Dynamics of Contentious Politics in Egypt and Tunisia Against the Background of South American Experiences”. AFA is solely responsible for the content of this policy brief.

Bibliographic record

Arab Forum for Alternatives, Egyptian parliamentary elections and the political path, AFA Papers Alternatives, 2017.