Voting in the first phase of Egypt’s parliamentary election kicked off on Monday.
Nearly 63 million eligible voters are going to cast ballots to choose 568 members of the House of Representatives in two phases.
Over 1,200 candidates are vying for the seats. The first phase is being heldin the provinces of Alexandria, Assiut, Aswan, Beheira, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Giza, Luxor, Matrouh, Minya, New Valley, Qena, Red Sea, and Sohag.
The results of the first are not expected until November 18.
The second phase will kick off on November 24-25 for voters in the remaining 13 provinces. The mandate of Egypt’s current parliament expires in January 2026.
The pro-government coalition is expected to sweep the parlaimentary vote just like the senate vote.
Rocked by divisions and infighting, opposition parties are not expected to stage a meaningful challenge.
The 2019 constitution extended President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s term from four to six years and his previous term was retroactively counted as his first, allowing him to stay in office until 2030.
