Jan 10 – Egypt’s National Elections Authority declared the results on Saturday of the last 49 seats in a parliamentary election that began more than three months ago and gave President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the super-majority he needs to amend the constitution.
The results of the final seats had been held up by reruns of voting in constituencies where initial results had been annulled.
Although the Elections Authority did not list the party affiliations of the elected candidates, the results are not believed to alter the overall composition of parliament, which will be overwhelmingly controlled by Sisi’s supporters.
Last week, Egypt’s State Information Service said opposition parties and independents were on track to hold 158 of the 568 elected seats, about 28%. The president also appoints a further 5% of seats, bringing the total to 596. A two-thirds majority is needed to amend the constitution.
(Reporting by Cairo bureauEditing by Peter Graff)
Comments