Status of women representatives in second round

Dear readers

When I started this project of tracking what parties were running what women, I did not think it would be that useful. I felt like I was spinning my wheels and wasting time to satisfy my own personal curiosity. Several hours in, I just could not stop myself.  But now, the hard work is paying off. See my post here Which Egyptian Parties Represent Women?

My amazing research assistant Heba Galal and I have translated the electoral lists of various parties, which allows us to evaluate the chances that women will be elected. Our first cut was to see which parties had women in the top half of their lists. i.e. if they are running 8 people on the list, do they women in slots 1-4. If they are running 12 people on the list, do they have women in slots 1-6, and so forth.  A second cut is to see how many women total the parties are running. That may tell you something about the overall attitude of women in the party.

No women have been elected from the single winner system. I repeat, not one single woman has won as an independent.

In a counterintuitive result, there may be some women from the lists, and they are almost absolutely certain to be from the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Freedom and Justice party. The FJP did so well in these elections, that in many locations, they got down to number 4 on their list, which means some women will be elected. It is also possible that women could be elected from Al Wafd. Their lists are not in good shape though, which makes it very difficult to analyze them, but I will try.

Recap:

The People's Assembly Elections are being run in the following order.

Stage 1:Cairo, Fayoum, Port Said, Damietta, Alexandria, Kafr el-Sheikh, Assiut, Luxor, Red Sea
Stage 2:Giza, Beni Suef, Menoufiya, Sharqiya, Ismailia, Suez, Beheira, Sohag, Aswan
Stage 3:Minya, Qalubiya, Gharbiya, Dakhaliya, North Sinai, South Sinai, Marsa Matruh, Qena, New Valley

• El Adl seems to have a fairly high number of women on their lists, in my opinion. They are running 24 women out of 13 lists. As many as 8 women are near the top of the lists.
• The Muslim Brotherhood seems to have slightly more than the bare minimum of women on their lists. They are running 38 women out of 37 lists analyzed. Two women are near top of the lists. (9 lists still need to be analyzed.)
• It is rumored that some of the women on Al Nour's list are fakes, and are just the mothers or the sisters of party members, to meet the legal requirement. All women on the Al Nour list are on the bottom two slots.
• The Egyptian Bloc: On 42 lists, they have 43 women. 9 women are at the top of their lists.
• The published lists by Al Wafd are not in good shape. Accordingly, we are still analyzing them as quickly as possible. Women from Al Wafd might make it if they are ranked 1 or 2.

Here is a preliminary analysis of where women have a chance. A more fine grained analysis will follow.

FJP
(using information from their official website)
People's Assembly

6. Giza, the second list. One woman, Azza Mohamed Ibrahim Elgref, Rank 4 out of 10 candidates.
The FJP won 4 Seats on Giza list 2.
11. Dakhalia, the initial list. One woman, Siham Abdel-Latif Jamal, Rank 2 out of 8.
24. Qalubiya, the initial list, one woman, Huda Abdullah Abul Qadr, rank 4 out of 4.
25. Qalubiya, the second list, one woman, Hoda Abdel-Rahman Mohammed Anwar, Rank 3 out of 8.
27. New Valley, one woman, Mervat Said Abdo, Rank 4 out of 4.
30. South Sinai, one woman, Amira Abdel Hamid Taha, rank 4 out of 4.
31. Damietta, two women, Fakry Adham Abdel Razak, Etmaad Mohamed Zagloul, rank 3 and 5 out of 8.FJP won 3 seats on the first Damietta list.
34. North Sinai, one woman, Inas Mustafa Hamdan, rank 4 of 4.
35. Qena, one woman, Suhair Badri, rank 4 of 4.


Al Wafd 
(using information from http://elections.masreat.com)
People's Assembly

1. Aswan, Waheda Shakely, ranked 1 out of 12, (this list seems flawed because it has more than 12 people on it.)
2. Giza, Maha Ahmed Omar Kashif, ranked 1 out of 12 (again, this list seems flawed because it has too many people on it)
3. Cairo, Wasaf Ali Ali, ranked 1 out of 12. (flawed list)
4. Helwan, Sherin Mohammad Hatata, ranked  2 out of 12 (flawed list)
5. Red Sea Governorate, Aza Abd El Fattah Ahmed 1 out of 12. (5 women total on this list)

Overview of Egyptian Elections after Stage 2 December 28

Dear readers

Data from Jadaliyya. I have reorganized and done some basic analysis.

322 Seats Total have been elected so far.

Islamist parties
FJP=47.20%              152 Seats
Al Nour=24.22%         78 Seats

Secular and Liberal Parties
Al Wafd=7.76%           25 Seats
Eg. Bloc=7.45%           24 Seats
Rev. Cont.=2.17%          7 Seats
Al Adl=0.62%                2 Seats

Moderate Parties
Al Wasat=2.17%           7 Seats
RDP=2.17%                  7 Seats

Former NDP
Eg. Citizen=1.24%          4 Seats
National of Eg.=1.24%    4 Seats
Freedom Party=0.31%     1 Seat

Various Independents
New Independents           1 Seat                             
Arab Eg. Union               1 Seat
Union                              1 Seat
Independents                   8 Seats

Egypt's Minorities

Bedouins in Alexandria. Photo Credit T.H. McAllister.

Dear readers

Not very much attention is given to the "other" in examinations of Egypt. Of course, we have found out in the past year that women, although they are 50% of the population, are treated like the other in Egypt.

But there are other groups that deserve attention. I am particularly concerned that at least some of these groups receive proper representation in the upcoming efforts to design Egypt's new constitution.

Under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, most European groups left, fled or were driven out. Egypt used to have a sizeable Greek, and Jewish population, particularly in Alexandria,but they are mostly gone. One can see beautiful, yet empty, shuttered and locked synagogues in Old Cairo and in Old Alexandria. There is some Jewish population in Egypt, but it is incredibly small, and hard to measure, due to the intense anti-zionist sentiment here. The American-Israeli cooperative Enterprise estimates their numbers at less than 100 in 2004.

Another group we do not hear much about are the Baha'i. The Bahai are a religious group who recognize Bahaullah as their prophet. They have a very nice message about the unity of humankind. However, they are fiercely oppressed in Egypt. They are not allowed to have ID cards showing their religion. (Although I think the fact that ID cards show your religion is a bad one in principle.) The only religions you are allowed to list on your IDs include Jewish, Islam and Christianity. As a result, many Bahai have difficulty getting birth certificates, passports, and other crucial documents. They are routinely discriminated against and stigmatized. They probably number around 5000, or less.

I have devoted many pages to the persecution of Copts and other Christians. Approximately 9 percent of the Egyptian population are Coptic Christians. Coptic Christians are one the oldest groups in Egypt. The Pharaonic temples have evidence of Church activity in them. At one point, far before the advent of Islam, all of Egypt was officially Christian. The holy family is said to have sojourned through Egypt, and several monasteries throughout Cairo, Upper Egypt, and the Sinai attest to this.

There is significant discrimination against Copts. People are discriminated against in employment, and being a Christian may be a bar to promotion in majority settings.  Churches can only be built with permits, which must be applied for from the government. Recent clashes in Imbaba and Maspero have been touched off in part around conflict regarding Church building. Here are some materials regarding Copts and Maspero.  Further, marriage between Christian men and Muslim women is forbidden, and can touch off violence in rural areas. In the ongoing election, people have campaigned against the Kotla by saying that it is the "Christian party." One of the most poignant moments I have experienced in Egypt was when I tried to comfort one of my colleagues after the Maspero Massacre, and she burst into tears, as did then I, as we embraced.

The Egyptian majority also do not like Shia Muslims very much. Regardless of the size of these small religious communities, their protection requires a secular state that ensures religious protection for minorities.

I have fallen in love with the Nubian people during my time in Egypt. They have their own language, and a distinct architecture and culture. There land was largely submerged when Lake Nasser was created as part of the Aswan Dam. They were relocated to villages. The novel Dongola, and another book, The Nubian Women of West Aswan, give some insight into their plight.  Please look at my page on Books@Egypt  for more details. One of the most beautiful and scenic things I have seen during my time in Egypt was a cute Nubian village along the Nile in Aswan. Although the Nubian dynasty of the Pharaos was one of the most successful Egypt has ever seen, the plight of the Nubian people currently reminds me of the plight of the Native Americans in the United States.

I also am concerned that the Siwans, the Bedouins, and other indigenous tribal people have a say in the upcoming Egyptian constitutional process.

~WMB

Merry Christmas, Cairo

 

Dear readers

I hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays in their own fashion. I spent the morning and lunch with Bahai and Muslim friends and their children in my apartment in Rehab City in Cairo. We then spent the late afternoon with Christian friends in Maadi, Cairo. My friends in Maadi had a beautiful Christmas tree decorated with bells, and ornaments and lights.  It was really nice to get together around food, with minimal presents, and just a lot of nice people and holiday cheer.

The protest for women's rights in Tahrir on Friday the 23rd of December was quite successful. At least 4000 people attended. No one was killed, and no one was injured. Sarah Carr reports that people chanted "The women of Egypt are a red line."

Jaadaliya reports that prominent blogger Alaa Ebd Al Fattah was released from prison on Christmas. During his time in custody, his first child Khaled was born. All defendants in the Maspero case have been released this month. That is an excellent present of free speech for Christmas. I also heard this news from my medical doctor, whom I visited this morning, because my son was sick.

I asked my doctor how his Christmas was. He told me that he and his family did his best to enjoy, despite the difficult circumstances. He said he was really shocked about the violence the military had shown against civilians and women recently.

The Copts in Egypt celebrate their Christmas on January 7th, the date Christianity refers to as the epiphany, or the 12th day of Christmas. Apparently, this corresponds to the 29th day of the Coptic Month Kiohk. There is a small difference between the Coptic calendar and the Gregorian calendar.

As for me, I am praying for peace and fairly conducted elections in the New Year.


Yours, Warigia

Women's Rights on the front line as clashes in Egypt continue

Military police attack a female protester. Photo Credit Al Masry Al Youm.

Dear readers

Women's rights are at the forefront of the revolution. I am following the election closely, but so far, no woman has been elected from the party lists. I am in close contact with people from UNDP, as well as with people from various political parties, and as soon as I get a confirmation, I will publish the names of any women elected.

Otherwise, you may have heard that a female protester--who was veiled-- was beaten and stripped in the street. Another elderly woman was seen threatened by a police truncheon. It is no secret that Egypt has some concerns around the treatment of women.  In addition, women protesters were subjected to torture in the form of virginity tests in March. Sexual harassment is rampant, and we see that only three women are represented in Ganzouri's cabinet.

Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States, has expressed her deep concerns and outrage about this violence against women.

According to Al Masry Al Youm, "Nineteen political groups and several activists have called on Egyptians to attend a mass demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday under the slogan 'The free women of Egypt — restoring honor.'"


Check out this article from Jadaliyya on a recent women's march.

10000 Egyptian women march against military violence.

~WMB

Violence in Tahrir Ebbs

Two good links about violence in Tahrir 

"Tahrir Calm as death toll from last night's clashes rises" Al Masry Al Youm

"Urbanizing the Counter Revolution" Jadaliyya

"Female Protesters Systematically Targeted" Egypt Independent

~WMB

Big Brush Stroke Overview of Egypt Election Results Round 2

FJP election poster in Luxor. Photo by the author.

 
If you want detailed election results, click here Jaadaliya Election Results .

Here is the big picture.

Aswan, [6 Seats] the usual. FJP 2 seats, Al Nour 1 Seat, Egyptian Bloc, 1 seat. Single winner runoff between FJP, Wafd, and Al Nour.
Sohag, [30 Seats]  FJP,  Al Nour, Egyptian Bloc and Nasserites. District 2 list postponed due to irregularities.
Beheira, [30 Seats]  FJP with 60 % of the votes, Al Nour 25 %, trailed by Al Wafd and Egyptian Bloc.
Suez, [6 Seats] Al Nour with more than 50% of the votes (2 seats), FJP with 25% (1 Seat), and Egyptian Bloc with 15 % (1 Seat).
Ismailia, [6 Seats] FJP 2 Seats, Al Nour 2 Seats. The Islamists dominated the vote.
Sharqiya, [30 Seats] FJP 40% of vote, Al Nour 25% of vote, Al Wafd 13 % of the vote, and Egyptian Bloc, 10% of the vote, Revolution Continues 4% of vote.
Menoufia [24 Seats] One list vote postponed due to irregularities. FJP, Al Wafd, Al Nour.
Beni Suef [18 Seats] FJP, Al Nour, Al Wafd, Revolution Continues, in that order.
Giza [30 Seats] FJP, Al Nour, Egyptian Bloc, Al Wafd and Revolution Continues Alliance, in that order. 

Good News and Bad News

Photo Credit Al Jazeera. Protester shouts slogans during clashes today.

Dear readers

Well with regard to the elections results, there is good news and there is bad news.

Let's start with the less than perfect news first. The FJP and Al Nour continue to lead in the second phase of the People's Assembly elections.

Some bad news is that there is fire in Tahrir. My father was just there. Apparently, some of the field hospitals have been attacked, and twitter is reporting that surgeons are needed. There is a big march to bury Sheikh Emmad Effat, but the Salafis are not present. 

The good news is that the Egyptian Bloc is retaining their position as a solid third. In a first past the post system, like in the US, third does not sound good. But in a partially list based system, third gives the liberal and secular Egyptian Bloc some real power in Parliament.

Al Wafd and Al Wasat are doing well in Sharqiya. Al Nour is dominating in Suez. 

Secular activists have not given up though. As I have said, it is remarkable that the Egyptian Bloc and other moderate and liberal parties are doing this well, particularly considering that they just formed in March. There is real potential for infighting between Salafis and the FJP. As Adel Soliman of the International Center for Future and Strategic Studies points out, the liberal parties will be needed to pass laws or block them.

Several smaller parties are throwing their weight behind the Bloc to show a more united front. (Daily News Egypt 11/12) Members of the Bloc are going into rural areas, and talking to local notables.

I personally think it is a serious mistake that the Revolution Continues refuses to coordinate with the Egyptian Bloc.

Egypt Elections Update, Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Egyptian campaign posters in Luxor in November. Photo by the author.

If you are looking for comprehensive election results, check here.  Jaadaliya Election Results

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/3331/egyptian-elections_preliminary-results_updated-

Here are some choice selections from their pages. I added some description of the parties on the bottom chart.


Seat Breakdown (as of Sunday 4 December*)

Party/Coalition	Party-list Seats	Single-Winner Seats	Total
Freedom and Justice**	40	2	42 (40%)
Al-Nour***	26	0	26 (25%)
Egyptian Bloc	13	0	13 (12%)
Al-Wafd	10	0	10 (9%)
Revolution Continues	4	1	5 (4%)
Al-Wasat	4	0	4 (3%)
Reform and Development	2	0	2
National Party of Egypt	1	0	1
Egyptian Citizen	1	0	1
Freedom	1	0	1
Independents	-	1	1
Total	102	4	106
Seats Remaining	230	162	392

                                                                                      

*   Includes all but Cairo's party-list district #1 (Al-Sahel voters are scheduled to re-vote on January 10-11).

** Freedom and Justice list includes candidates from the parties of the "Democratic Alliance for Egypt"

*** Al-Nour's list includes candidates from the parties of the "Islamist Bloc"


Nationwide Vote for Party Coalition Lists (as of December 14th)

Party/Coalition List	Votes	% Votes
Freedom and Justice* (Islamist/right)	3565092	36.62321885
Al-Nour** (Islamist/far right)	2371713	24.3639615
Egyptian Bloc (liberal/left)	1299819	13.35268647
Al-Wafd (old school liberal)	690077	7.088973018
Al-Wasat (Islamist/moderate)	415590	4.269242848
Revolution Continues (left)	335947	3.451092006
Reform and Development (no idea!?)	185138	1.901872235
National Party of Egypt (NDP)	153429	1.576134317
Freedom (NDP)	136784	1.405144767
Adl (liberal/3rd way)	76769	0.788627022

Egypt elections beyond ideology: A return to common sense politics

 

Egypt elections beyond ideology: A return to common sense politics

By   Hamid Eltgani Ali and Warigia Bowman December 13, 2011, 5:00 pm

The first round of Egyptian parliamentary elections is drawing to a close, but in another sense, Egyptian multi-party politics is just beginning. After a partially successful revolution, Egypt is now on a crash course to multi-party democracy. Other countries that have gone through major political transitions from dictatorship to democracy generally have had decades to make the transition. The question many Western observers are asking now is what shape will Egypt’s nascent democracy take? Will it more closely resemble the secular Turkey, or the more theocratic Iran?  As news reports have indicated, the results of the first round of elections have been discouraging for those who support a secular state in Egypt. Based on our quantitative analysis of publicly available ex post election data after the first round of voting, the Islamists performed exceptionally well in comparatively rural areas with low political capital such as Fayoum and Luxor. By contrast, liberal and moderate parties, taken altogether, won only 27 percent of total votes and performed relatively well in highly urbanized areas of high political capital like Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said. Liberal candidates are likely to do worse in the second and third rounds of voting which will be held in parts of rural Egypt that are likely to be less progressive and politically sophisticated than Cairo, the Red Sea and The Delta. Given results in the first round of the Egyptian elections, what lessons can be learned? Given what we  have seen in the first round of the Egyptian elections,  what lessons can be learned? First of all, liberal parties made a serious miscalculation by running numerous separate lists. Many of the parties in the Revolution Continues Alliance (RCA) withdrew from the Bloc allegedly due to inter-party conflicts. The only liberal party that has done well in the elections has been The Egyptian Bloc, which has captured 14 percent of the available seats thus far. Liberal parties are doing even worse under the single-winner system. In the first round of runoffs, 47 of the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidates (Freedom and Justice Party) made it to the runoffs. The far right Islamist party Al Nour has secured 27 candidates in the first round of runoffs. By contrast, the Egyptian Bloc only had 9 candidates in runoffs. The liberal and moderate parties need to resolve their differences and work as a unit to gain any seats. The second lesson to be learned is that Egyptians have not yet embraced an ideological approach to politics. The conservative right and liberal left categories which categorize Europe simply do not apply well here, accordingly labels and ideologies are not useful campaign tools. Rather, parties can more easily be divided along a crucial axis: support for a secular state, or support for a religious (Islamic) state. The second lesson to be learned here, then, all parties must figure out what matters to them and campaign on issues,  like how they will reduce unemployement, not ideologies. The Egyptian people do not know what “social justice,” means yet. But they do know what a hungry stomach feels like.

No Fear

I had a very interesting interview with one of the founding members of the Social Democratic Party today.

She said a few things I found fascinating. She mentioned that she got into politics through the Kefaya movement ("Enough"), which first emerged in around 2004. I found it interesting that she learned about the movement in part through their website and an opposition chat room. Further, she mentioned that she actually registered for the SDP by filling out an application on their website. I find it intriguing how much these new parties used information technology.

I asked her if she was worried that the government would track her if she signed up online. She said, that in the time of the Kefaya, in the time before the Revolution, she was afraid. Since the Revolution, she is no longer afraid. She said that in this post-revolutionary period, "fear is over," and she did not hesitate to become politically active.

~WMB

Low turnout in Egyptian election and other news

Egyptian Expatriate expresses enthusiasm about the Revolution. Photo Credit, Al Masry.

Dear readers,

So not many voters turned out for the runoff on Monday. I heard this from my student who worked for the UN in elections, as well as the news. This is either going to be great news for the Egyptian Bloc, or terrific news for the Salafis. Unfortunately, a lot of runoffs were between FJP and salafis, so I hope people had the sense to vote FJP. The devil you know. . . .

Basically, a lot of people did not really understand that they had to vote again to finalize their decision. Many people said they "had done their part."

I was relieved and thrilled that my Arabic teacher voted for Kotla, (the Egyptian Bloc) but she lives in upmarket Heliopolis, so that is to be expected. She also voted for Amr Hamzawy. He is my colleague here in public policy. We hope he will teach again next semester.

The apparently incompetent Egyptian Higher Elections Commission noted that "it had made a mathematical error" when it estimated turnout at 62% a few days ago. It appears turnout is closer to 52%, according to Abdel Moez Ibrahim, head of the election body.

It appears that God, is in fact, merciful, because the Salafis, whom I am sure Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) would not approve of, "will not accept living in the shadow of the Freedom and Justice Party" ("Head of Salafist Al Nour Party Rules Out Alliance with Muslim Brotherhood," Ahram Online, December 6, 2011) Yet, they may be willing to form a wider coalition.

I am also praying to Allah/Yehova/God that the votes of the Egyptian expatriates help a bit. According to Al Masry Al Youm, "Fifty Egyptian embassies abroad sent vote counts from the run-off elections to the Foreign Ministry, ministry spokesperson Amr Roshdy said Tuesday."

AUC Faculty Experts Dissect Election Results

Reposted from AUC Egypt Daily email newsletter

News at AUC December 7, 2011

In the first round of Egypt’s post-revolution parliamentary elections, which were held in nine governorates including Cairo and Alexandria, Islamist parties won 65 percent of all votes cast for parties, with the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party winning 36.62 percent, followed by Al-Nur Party of the hardline Salafis with 24.36 percent and Al-Wasat Party with 4.27 percent. Meanwhile, the liberalist secular alliance, the Egyptian Bloc, secured 13.35 percent of the votes, and the New Wafd Party got 7 percent.

“The coming struggle will most likely be between the Democrats and Islamic fundamentalism,” said Ezzedine Fishere, distinguished lecturer of political science. “That might be a more difficult and protracted struggle, and will have an uncertain outcome. But it will be, I believe, the last political obstacle standing between us Egyptians and a liberal democracy.”

Results in the first round of elections have raised complex questions about Egypt’s future and where it is heading in this new political landscape – one in which Islamists seem to be the dominant force in the country’s transition from military rule. “The scene in Egypt may lead Egyptians to shortly replace police dictatorship with a theocratic dictatorship,” said Said Sadek, a faculty member in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Egyptology. “The task after the elections is immense, especially for the Egyptian economy. A Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi government would further plunge the economy to an abyss. People will rise up in a new revolution against them but after more political and economic disasters would have befallen the Egyptian economy, society, women, religious minorities and human rights.” 

Samer Soliman, assistant professor of political science, expressed a different viewpoint. “The Muslim Brotherhood today is different than that of a decade ago; it has developed and matured,” he said. “Despite some violations, the Muslim Brotherhood worked hard and has a strong base among people; therefore, the results are logical. The liberalists should now organize themselves and work harder to secure a similar popular base among the people.”

Soliman was quick to point out, however, that the “Muslim Brotherhood now has the right to help in the formation of government, but it will never have the right to infringe on human rights.”

While some chose to boycott the elections in light of the recent violence in Tahrir, Khaled Fahmy, chair of the history department, feels the elections were vital. “With these elections, Egypt passed a huge step toward democracy,” he said. “Even though I am against the boycott, I understand and respect those who were calling for it. I do believe, however, that participating in elections is one way, among many, including continuing the Tahrir sit-in, to force the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) out of the picture.”

Nevertheless, Fahmy is discontent with the run-up to the elections. “The law governing elections is a disastrous one that combines the worst features of the single-candidate district model with the worst features of the proportional representation model,” Fahmy explained, adding that “SCAF’s cavalier policies confused both voters and candidates and effectively dissipated the efforts of the new parties, as well as the more established ones, and distracted them to side issues instead of giving them the opportunity to reach out to voters, sharpen their messages, present credible electoral programs and build grassroots organizations with their constituencies. I strongly believe that the Egyptian people deserve a much better elections law than this one, and that after the January 25 Revolution, we were entitled to a much better, more substantial election campaign than what we witnessed.”

With the second and third round of elections looming ahead, as well as the drafting of a new constitution for the country and the 2012 presidential elections, Fishere predicts that Egypt will be witnessing an intense struggle between the Islamists, the military and the liberals. “This election has revealed the relative strength of the different forces in society, and the Islamists now feel more confident,” he said. “Egyptian Democrats who focused their energies on resisting the rule of the military will now have to fight on two fronts.”

No women elected to Egypt's parliament in first round

Woman voting in Egypt. Photo credit Carnegie Endowment.

Crowd in Tahrir Friday, December 2. Note veiled woman in jeans in foreground. Photo credit, the author.

Dear readers

No women have been elected from the lists in Egypt's first round of elections. In addition, absolutely no women made it into runoffs from the single winner component of the election in the first round.

I spoke with high ranking women activists in Egypt. Many said that the most important consideration was not gender, but the electability of the candidates. This makes a lot of sense in the single-winner portion of the elections, but I am wondering if this argument makes as much sense for the list portion of the election.

It appears people voted based on what they felt the electoral blocks, or parties represented. They did not vote so much based on the individual candidate. This position of mine appears to be strengthened by the fact that people's preferences in the single-winner portion of the election closely tracked their behavior in the list section.

I find the absence of women in the first round particularly distressing for two reasons. First, women are at least 50% of the Egyptian population. Second, there is a concern that some parties that have recently been elected do not believe that women have the right to hold complex or high profile jobs.

The secular political parties need to rethink their strategy on getting women elected. In particular, it appears that if secular parties want women to get elected, they need to place them in slots 1 or 2 in selected districts where the party is expected to do well.  ~WMB

Good article on women in parliament

Check out this great article. in Jaadaliya


Women Turn Out in High Numbers, yet their share in parliament likely to be slim.

Then read my post.

Which Egyptian Parties Represent Women?

Cheers, WMB

The Glass is One Third Full

Dear Readers

Well, the FJP (aka Muslim Brotherhood) was expected to win big, so no surprise there. However, the Al Nour is a big surprise, and frankly, a shock.

However, I am very happy that the Egyptian Bloc, which consists of Free Egyptians, the Social Democratic Party and Tagamoo looks like it is doing well. I spoke to a top party member at Groppi cafe yesterday, and he tells me that he is getting an outpouring of support for the remaining two areas where elections have not yet been held. At least there will be some, significant liberal and secular representation in parliament.

Those radicals and leftists who urged people not to vote made a big tactical error. In addition, it would seem that in the next set of elections, all liberal and secular parties would be well advised to work in one bloc, and unite forces.

As I tell my students, democracy is an iterative process. We need to prepare to do better next time.

~WMB

Very preliminary Election Outcomes

Updated December 6, 10:54 a.m.

This post will summarize election outcomes in an easy to read format. The best way to find up the minute info on this is to look here. Jaadaliya Election Results . 

The value added of looking here is that I just give you the bare facts. It is a bit easier to read.

According to Jaadaliya, "Exit polls and preliminary vote count show that the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists are expected to finish first and second in the first phase with the liberal Egyptian Bloc a distant third."

Votes will supposedly be announced tonight, although they said that yesterday too. Worried laughter . . .

• No official results as of Sunday, results and percentages are still trickling in . . . .
• Also, apparently (as of Sunday December 4, 2011) there is some confusion with what to do when the extra votes. i.e. how will the seats be allocated for parties who make the cutoff, but get few votes.
• As of Tuesday December 6, 2011, there was very low turnout for the runoffs last night. One of my students works for the UN observation team and she noted this.
• This cool chart was published by the Arabist on Saturday. It may no longer be up to date, but gives some preliminary visuals. Chart for Round One of the Elections

My latest information is that no woman has been elected in the first round.

I will get results up as fast as I can. Lists are completed, still working on single winners. All results are not final. Runoffs for first leg of single-winner tomorrow. (Monday, December 5)


Cairo (54 seats) 

Cairo List 1 (10 Seats) 
FJP (39%)=4 Seats

Egyptian Bloc(23.5%)=3 Seats
Al Nour (5.36%)=1seat 
Al Wafd (6.23%)=1 seat

Cairo List 2 (8 Seats)
FJP(35.65%)=3
Egyptian Bloc(26.22%)=2
Al Nour(11.1%)=1
Al Wafd(7.22%)=1
Al Wasat(5.76%)=1


Cairo List 3 (Qasr al Nil)(8 Seats)
FJP(39%)=3
Egyptian Bloc(18.33%)=2
Wafd(14.67%)=1
Nour(14.52%)=1
RCA(3.45%)=1


Cairo List 4 (Helwan)(10 Seats)
FJP(40.48%)=4
Nour(19.35%)=2
Egyptian Bloc(13.14%)=1
Al Wafd(7.32%)=1
Revolution Continue(3.62%)=1
Al Wasat(3.39%)=1

 
Cairo Single Winner Seats. 

#1 : Egyptian Bloc vs. FJP
#2 : FJP vs. Egyptian Block (Yeah!)
#3 : FJP vs. El Adl, Al Nour (wow!) or Independent.
#4:  Heliopolis: Amr Hamzawy with 53% of the vote (Mabruk!) Former NDP vs. FJP (wow! Scary) 
#5: FJP vs. Al Nour (Yikes!)
#6:  FJP vs. Egyptian Bloc, Gamila Ismail did not make it.
#7:  FJP vs. Al Nour or former NDP. (Sigh)
#8: FJP vs.FJP.
#9:  Mostafa Bakry wins, Independent. Ramadan Omar wins, FJP.

Alexandria (24 Seats) 

Alexandria List #1 (6 Seats) 


FJP (34.41%)=2
Al Nour (29.85%)=2
Egyptian Bloc (16.02%)=1
Wafd (6.40%)=1




Alexandria List #2(10 Seats)

FJP (35.32%)=4
Al Nour (32.96%)=3
Revolution Continues (10%)=1
Egyptian Bloc  (6.15%)=1
Al Wafd(5.55%)=1


Alexandria single winner Seats
working on this . . . .





Damietta (12 seats) 


Damietta List
FJP
Al Nour
Al Wasat

Kafr Al Sheikh (18 Seats)

FJP (31%)
Al Nour (22%)
Al Wafd (15%)
Union
National Party  (NDP)
Democratic Front
Freedom Party (NDP)
Egyptian Citizen (NDP)


Fayoum (18 Seats) 
Fayoum List 1
FJP
Al Nour
Freedom Party(NDP)
Revolution Continues


Fayoum List 2
FJP(2Seats)
Al Nour (near tie) (2 Seats)
Egyptian Bloc (no seats)


Port Said (6 Seats) 
Port Said List 
FJP=32% (2 Seats)
Al Nour=20% (1 Seat)
Al Wafd=14%
Al Wasat=13%


Red Sea (6 Seats)
Red Sea List 
FJP=35% (2 Seats)
Egyptian Bloc=17% (One Seat)
Egyptian Citizen (NDP)= 14% (One Seat)
Al Wafd=10%
Freedom Party (NDP)=8%
Al Wasat=6%
Revolution Continues=4%

Assiut (24 Seats)
Assiut List 1
FJP=44%
Al Nour=23%
Egyptian Bloc=22%
Wafd
Nasserist
Peace
Wasat



Assiut List 2
FJP > 40%
Al Nour
Egyptian Bloc



Luxor(6 seats)
Luxor List 
FJP=40%
Al Nour
Egyptian Bloc
Al Wafd


Luxor Single Winner (Runoff)

1.Independent
2.FJP/NDP
3.FJP