The Egyptian parliamentary elections of 2005 was the scheduled three-stage elections for determining its lower house membership. The electioned form the Eighth Assembly since the adoption of the 1971 Constitution. Over 7,000 candidates competed in 222 constituencies for the Assembly's 444 elected seats. A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. ...

They were viewed as yet another test to the current wave of political reform, occurring only 2 months after the first multi-candidate presidential elections. Although the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) maintained its majority and control of the Assembly, large gains were made by others at the expence of the NDP. The National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watany Al-Demoqraty) was established in 1978 by late president Anwar Sadat who headed the party till 1981. ...

Further importance is attached to these elections as a party must achieve 5% of the seats in the Assmebly to field a candidate in the next Egyptian presidential elections in 2011.

Election process

The election process ran in the three stanges from November 7 to December 9, 2005 using single memeber plurality, with over 32 million registered voters in the 222 constituencies. Official registeration for the candidates began on October 12, 2005. November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. ... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The role of the police is restricted to maintaining peace and order at the polling stations without interference in the voting process or entering the voting stations.

1st

Ran on Wednesday November 9th, with run-off elections on Tuesday November 15th with 10.7 million registered voters coverning 8 Egyptian governorates: Cairo, Giza, al-Minufiyah, Bani Suwayf, Asyut, al-Minya, Matruh and al-Wadi al-Jadid November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... Although technically in Giza, The Great Pyramids have become a symbol of Cairo internationally Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة; transliterated: al-Qāhirah) is the capital city of Egypt (and previously the United Arab Republic) and has a metropolitan area population of approximately 15. ... The Great Sphinx of Giza with Khafres pyramid in the background. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Governorates of Egypt ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Governorates of Egypt | Cities in Egypt ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Governorates of Egypt | Cities in Egypt ... Al Minya is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Governorates of Egypt ... Al Wadi al Jadid (Arabic: الوادى الجديد ) (English: New Valley; see New Valley Project) is one of the governorates of Egypt. ...

2nd

Ran on Sunday November 20th, with run-off elections on Saturday November 26th with 10.5 million registered voters convering 9 Egyptian governorates: Alexandria, al-Buhayrah, al-Isma'iliyah, Bur Sa'id, as-Suways, al-Qalyubiyah, al-Gharbiyah, al-Fayyum and Qina. November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Antiquity and modernity stand cheek-by-jowl in Egypts chief Mediterranean seaport Located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, Alexandria Αλεξάνδρεια (in Arabic, الإسكندرية, transliterated al-ʼIskandariyyah) is the chief seaport in Egypt, and that countrys second largest city, and the capital of the Al Iskandariyah governate. ... Categories: Stub | Governorates of Egypt ... Al Ismailiyah is one of the governorates of Egypt. ... Bur Said is one of the governorates of Egypt. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Governorates of Egypt ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Governorates of Egypt ... Al Fayyum is one of the governorates of Egypt located in the centre of the country. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Governorates of Egypt | Cities in Egypt ...

3rd

Ran on Thursday December 1st, with run-off elections on Wednesday December 7th with 10.6 million registered voters covering 9 Egyptian governorates: ad-Daqahliyah, ash-Sharqiyah, Kafr ash Shaykh, Dumyat, Suhaj, Aswan, al-Bahr al-Ahmar, South Sinai and North Sinai. December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Ad Daqahliyah is an Egyptian governorate lying northeast of Cairo. ... Ash Sharqiyah could be Ash Sharqiyah, Egypt Ash Sharqiyah, Oman Ash Sharqiyah, Saudi Arabia Wadi Ash Sharqiyah, Sudan This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Kafr ash Shaykh is one of the governorates of Egypt. ... Dumyat, the hill at the western extremity of the Ochil Hills. ... Suhag lies 470 km from Cairo. ... Aswan (أسوان Aswān) (24 05 N 32 56 E, population 200,000) is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the governorate of the same name. ... Al Bahr al Ahmar0 is one of the governorates of Egypt. ... Janub Sina is one of the governorates of Egypt. ... Shamal Sina is one of the governorates of Egypt. ...

The results are announced on a constituency basis following the vote count.

Pre-election seating

The current number of seats in the Assembly is 454, the 2000 legislative election resulted in the following seat distribution in the Seventh Assembly:

• National Democratic Party (NDP) - 417
• New Wafd Party - 6
• Progressive National Unionist Party - 5
• Arab Democratic Nasserist Party - 1
• Liberal Party - 1
• Independents - 14
• Non-Elected Members - 10

It should be noted that initially the NDP scored only 40% of the seats, but many independents switched their political affiliation back to NDP giving it its soaring majority. The National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watany Al-Demoqraty) was established in 1978 by late president Anwar Sadat who headed the party till 1981. ... The New Wafd Party (New Delegation Party; Arabic: Hizb al-Wafd-al-Jadid حزب الوفد الجديد) is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt. ... The Progressive National Unionist Party (Hizb al Tajamaa al Wataniyah al Tagadamm al Wahdwa) is a political party in Egypt. ... The Nasserist Party is a political party in Egypt. ... The Liberal Party or Hizb al-Ahrar is a political party in Egypt. ...

Electoral Campaigns

Officially, the campaign period starts immediately after the announcement of the final list of candidates and ends one day before election day. In case of run-offs, it restarts the day following the results day to end the day before election day. Campaign expenditures are limited to not more then 70,000 Egyptian Pounds, with restrictions of any foreign financial assistance or endorsements. Restrictions are also put on using public utilities (transportation, buildings, public sector companies, as well as companies with government-owned shares). More than one country has a day called Election Day. ...

Opposition parties and groups

There were 8 recognised political parties covering a broad political spectrum and various pressure groups such as Kifaya Movement and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood or The Muslim Brothers (Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون al-ikhwān al-muslimūn, full title جماعة الإخوان المسلمين jamāat al-ikhwān al-muslimīn, The Society of the Muslim Brothers, often simply الإخوان al-ikhwān, the Brotherhood) is the name of several Islamist organizations in the Middle East. ...

Monitoring

The official monitors of the elections are the judiciary and the governmental National Council for Human Rights (NCHR). Over 30 human rights organizations, civil society groups and NGOs pledged to monitor the elections. The judiciary, also referred to as the judicature, consists of the system of courts of law for the administration of justice and to its principals, the justices, judges and magistrates among other types of adjudicators. ... Civil society or civil institutions refers to the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations or institutions which form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force backed structures of a state (regardless of that states political system). ... NGO is an abbreviation or code for: Non-governmental organization Nagoya Airport (IATA code) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The judiciary asked the civil society organizations to form a "National Authority for monitoring elections" that would monitor the elections. Also this authority would replace the wooden ballot boxes with transparent ones (this was done this year), put surviellence cameras inside the polling stations that would provide constant monitoring of the election process (currently under study and is done partially by the media) and to air the vote count live on state television. A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually cuboid, with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot paper in an election but which prevents anyone from accessing the votes cast until the close of the voting period. ...

Issues

The main concern during the election was not on certain electorial programs or campaigns but rather on how much the the oppositions will gain which push for more reform in the future and pave the way for more balance of power in the Egyptian politics. The relevance of this year's elections to the 2011 presidential elections gives it even more importance in the Egyptian political arena. Some other issues include the potential amendments promised to the constitution, and the introduction of more laws to political and economic reform.

Election Results

1st

Out of 164 seats, the NDP won 112 seats (around 75%), the secular political parties a total 5 seats and the independents a total of 47 seats. Of the winning 47 indpendents, 34 are Muslim Brotherhood candidates which is considered to be a soaring surprise in this election. By this, the Brotherhood doubled its presence in the Assembly in only the first stage. As in previous elections, many independents have switched their political affiliation after the results were announced and joined the NDP roster. According to official records, 2 300 000 registered voters have cast their votes, resulting in a turnout of around 23%. The National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watany Al-Demoqraty) was established in 1978 by late president Anwar Sadat who headed the party till 1981. ... The Muslim Brotherhood or The Muslim Brothers (Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون al-ikhwān al-muslimūn, full title جماعة الإخوان المسلمين jamāat al-ikhwān al-muslimīn, The Society of the Muslim Brothers, often simply الإخوان al-ikhwān, the Brotherhood) is the name of several Islamist organizations in the Middle East. ...

Run-offs were held in 74 constituencies over 133 seats, with the number of registered voters reaching 9,990,550 registered voters, with a turnout of around 23%. The run-offs resulted in the winning of 85 NDP candidates, 2 New Wafd Party candidates, 2 Progressive National Unionist Party candidates, one Tomorrow Party candidate and 43 independent candidates The National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watany Al-Demoqraty) was established in 1978 by late president Anwar Sadat who headed the party till 1981. ... The New Wafd Party (New Delegation Party; Arabic: Hizb al-Wafd-al-Jadid حزب الوفد الجديد) is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt. ... The Progressive National Unionist Party (Hizb al Tajamaa al Wataniyah al Tagadamm al Wahdwa) is a political party in Egypt. ... The Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad) is an active political party in Egypt that was granted license in October 2004. ...

This stage has resulted in following distribution of 164 seats:

• NDP — 112 seats
• New Wafd Party — 2 seats
• Progressive National Unionist Party — 2 seats
• Tomorrow Party — 1 seat
• Independents — 47 seats
  • (Muslim Brotherhood — 34 seats of those)

Of the most prominent politicians who lost in the elections are Ayman Nour, Tomorrow Party leader and the presidential candidate in the Egyptian Presidential election in September 2005, since arrested for corruption, also NDP's major reformer Hossam ElBadrawy, Amin Mubarak and long-time serving Fayda Kamel, and New Wafd's most prominent Coptic figure Monir Fakhri Abdel Nour. The National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watany Al-Demoqraty) was established in 1978 by late president Anwar Sadat who headed the party till 1981. ... The New Wafd Party (New Delegation Party; Arabic: Hizb al-Wafd-al-Jadid حزب الوفد الجديد) is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt. ... The Progressive National Unionist Party (Hizb al Tajamaa al Wataniyah al Tagadamm al Wahdwa) is a political party in Egypt. ... The Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad) is an active political party in Egypt that was granted license in October 2004. ... Ayman Nour Ayman Abd El-Aziz Nour (Arabic: ) is an Egyptian politician, a former member of that countrys Parliament and chairman of the al-Ghad party (Tomorrow Party). He became famous around the world following his October 2004 imprisonment by the government of President Hosni Mubarak, which was widely... The Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad) is an active political party in Egypt that was granted license in October 2004. ... Coptic is an adjective referring to the original inhabitants of Egypt, the Copts. ... Monir Fakhri Abdel Nour is a member of the Pan-African Parliament from Egypt. ...

There are officially 158 reported election law violations, however other sources have not yet issued any reports concerning the actual number of violations. There had been incidents of violence and bribery, yet the NGO's have not yet issued official statements.

2nd

Following the 1st round of elections on Sunday November 20th, only 23 seats were determined conclusively, the rest went into a runoff vote. They took place on Saturday November 26th, when 242 candidates are to compete over 121 seats in 68 constituencies, of which 53 are two seats constituencies and 15 single seat. November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The run-off elections were intense in competition and violence, with a single demonstrator and NDP supporter dead. More than 800 Muslim Brotherhood members were arrested, when the police tried stopping the violence that broke out between the supporters of different candidates. Some have reported the violence from the police reached the judiciaries who were monitoring the voting. Some of the political groups and parties have even called for the Egyptian Army to go to the streets to protect the election. The Egyptian military, among the largest in the region, includes an Army, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense Command. ...

Final results were announced on Monday, November 28th. The NDP won a total 90 seats (after some of the winning candidates joined the party following their victory), 46 Independent candidates (of which 42 are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, raising the group's number of seats to a total of 76 seats) and 2 more seats for the New Wafd Party party. November 28 is the 332nd day (333rd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Muslim Brotherhood or The Muslim Brothers (Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون al-ikhwān al-muslimūn, full title جماعة الإخوان المسلمين jamāat al-ikhwān al-muslimīn, The Society of the Muslim Brothers, often simply الإخوان al-ikhwān, the Brotherhood) is the name of several Islamist organizations in the Middle East. ... The New Wafd Party (New Delegation Party; Arabic: Hizb al-Wafd-al-Jadid حزب الوفد الجديد) is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt. ...

Also the elections have resulted in many surprise victories and losses.

Founder Khalid Muhi ad Din of the Tagamu Party lost his seat. Khalid was a long-time serving legislator and an ex-candidate in the 2005 presidential election before the party boycotted the elections. In addition to two more leading party figures, ElBadry Farghaly and Abo ElEzz ElHarirri, who have also lost their seats. The party secured no seats in this stage. The Progressive National Unionist Party (Hizb al Tajamaa al Wataniyah al Tagadamm al Wahdwa) is a political party in Egypt. ...

Also the NDP's former Agriculture minister and former Deputy NDP Chairman, Yousef Wali lost his seat.

NDP's candidate, long-time serving Assemblyman and leader of the Egyptian Labor Union, Sayed Rashed. Rashed is known for his passionate support for the NDP's leader, Hosni Mubarak. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Former Egyptian soccer goalkeeper and sports commentator, Ahmed Shobeer won as an NDP candidate in the run-offs as well. Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ...

3rd

The final stage of the election took place on Thursday December 1st, over 136 seats in 68 constituencies; 9 seats were decided: with 8 for NDP and 1 for the New Wafd Party. The NDP had achieved over half the seats despite its bad performance, and speculations still predicted that the NDP will retain at least 70% of the parliament seats which they narrowly missed. December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New Wafd Party (New Delegation Party; Arabic: Hizb al-Wafd-al-Jadid حزب الوفد الجديد) is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt. ...

The run-off elections were held on Wednesday December 7th over the remaining 127 seats. Eleven seats went to the Muslim Brotherhood, and NDP took 111 leaving 5 still up in the air. December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The results in some constituencies are yet to be announced and 12 seats will be contested in further run-offs.

Violence spread during this stage of elections, causing many injuries and the deaths of 9 opposition supporters, according to independent sources.

The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights said the deaths came during "clashes with security forces which cordoned off polling stations to prevent voters from voting".

10 Appointed Seats

On 12 December 2005 President Mubarak exercised his constitutional right by appointing 10 members of the Assembly. Of the appointed, five are men, five are women and four are copts. December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 19 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article concerns how a man differs from women. ... Image of a woman on the Pioneer plaque sent to outer space. ... The word Copt signifies the natives of Egypt as a nationality, and in popular common culture in Egypt it is used to specifically signify Christian Egyptians, although its use to mean Egyptian is not unwitnessed. ...

The appointed are:

• Mohamed Dakrouri, Advisor to the President
• Ahmed Omar Hashem, former chairman of Al-Azhar University
• Edward Ghali El-Dahabi, lawyer
• Ramzi El-Shaer, former president of Zagazig University and professor of constitutional law
• Iskandar Ghattas, assistant to the Justice Minister
• Zeinab Radwan, former dean of Cairo University's faculty of Arab and Islamic Studies (Became Deputy Speaker)
• Georgette Sobhi, member of National Council for Women
• Ibrahim Habib, chairman of the Public Notary Authority
• Siadah Ilhami, sociologist
• Sanaa El-Banna, chairman of the Petrochemical Holding Company

Al-Azhar University in Cairo Egypt Al-Azhar University, or Al-Azhar Al-Shareef (الأزهر الشريف; literally, The Noble Al-Azhar), is connected to the mosque in Cairo named to honor Fatima Az-Zahraa, the daughter of Muhammad, from whom the Fatimid Dynasty claimed descent. ... A lawyer is a person licensed by the state to advise clients in legal matters and represent them in courts of law and in other forms of dispute resolution. ... Constitutional law is the study of foundational laws that govern the scope of powers and authority of various bodies in relation to the creation and execution of other laws by a government. ... Cairo University is an institute of higher education located in Giza, Egypt. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ...

Overall Results

The banned Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidates stood as independents, now have a record 87 seats in the 454 seat Assembly, almost six times the number it had before. They believe they were entitled to more seats and say that rigging and intimidation led to their being beaten in some constituencies.

The ruling NDP won at least 311 seats, significantly less than the 404 seats it gained in 2000, but just nine seats over the crucial two-thirds parliamentary majority (around 302 seats) required to amend the constitution.

Opposition Parties and other non-affiliated independants have collectively won the around 36 seats. With the results from some constituencies to be announced later, and seven candidates standing in run-offs, the group may make further gains.

A total of 432 members of the outgoing assembly (around 77.5%) lost their seats in the elections.

Summary of the 2005 Election Results

The 454 seats of the Eighth People's Assembly (12 seats are still in contest):

The Peoples Assembly (Arabic: Majilis Al-Sha’ab مجلس الشعب) is the lower house of Egypts bicameral parliament. ... The National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watany Al-Demoqraty) was established in 1978 by late president Anwar Sadat who headed the party till 1981. ... The New Wafd Party (New Delegation Party; Arabic: Hizb al-Wafd-al-Jadid حزب الوفد الجديد) is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt. ... The Progressive National Unionist Party (Hizb al Tajamaa al Wataniyah al Tagadamm al Wahdwa) is a political party in Egypt. ... The Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad) is an active political party in Egypt that was granted license in October 2004. ... The Muslim Brotherhood or The Muslim Brothers (Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون al-ikhwān al-muslimūn, full title جماعة الإخوان المسلمين jamāat al-ikhwān al-muslimīn, The Society of the Muslim Brothers, often simply الإخوان al-ikhwān, the Brotherhood) is the name of several Islamist organizations in the Middle East. ... The Nasserist Party is a political party in Egypt. ... The Nasserist Party is a political party in Egypt. ... The Liberal Party or Hizb al-Ahrar is a political party in Egypt. ...

Post-election issues

General Conditions

The usual low turnout at the polling stations persisted. Voter turnout was estimated to be around 25% — some say even less. The emergence of a new type of non-political candidate — rich people seeking election for reasons unrelated to politics and willing to buy votes for money — was hardly encouraging. Many blame the NDP monopoly and firm grasp of the political system for losing the people's confidence in any real change.

Muslim Brotherhood gains

Perhaps one of the most surprising results of the elections is the tripling of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) number of seats. The MB presently constitute the largest opposition bloc in the parliament. They obtained these seats without having a clear program or policy, running on one slogan, "Islam is the solution". Egyptians know what the "problem" is -- the government, led by Mubarak. The problem also is poverty, corruption, lack of jobs, and a host of others. The Muslim Brotherhood or The Muslim Brothers (Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون al-ikhwān al-muslimūn, full title جماعة الإخوان المسلمين jamāat al-ikhwān al-muslimīn, The Society of the Muslim Brothers, often simply الإخوان al-ikhwān, the Brotherhood) is the name of several Islamist organizations in the Middle East. ...

Worries about the Brotherhood is gripping the Copts as well as Muslim moderates and in secular circles, as the MB's agenda still remains vague.

Many argue that with the MB now in the legislature rather than the underground, it will have to bring its ideas in full to the public domain, where their views will be subject to debate, critism, revision and the transformation of its most extreme ideas to more secular ones, making the goup more accustomed to the political game. These intellectuals argue that repressing religious currents doesn't weaken, but strengthen them. Having religious groups operating without legitimacy, they tend to grow in this silence and prosper to harm the country's stability. The results of this election seemed to signal the emergance of the MB from being a popular underground organization to a civil political party.

Religion and Politics

Many political experts and writers have argued that the Brotherhood's main slogan to be a violation of the Egyptian constitution, that garauntees freedom of religious practice and equality of citizens. While the MB have continuously claimed that since the constitution takes the Islamic Sharia as one of the sources of legislation and Islam as the state religion, then the slogan is in line with the constitution and is not a violation. The neutrality and factual accuracy of this article are disputed. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( (help· info)), submission (to the will of God)) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second-largest religion. ... A state religion (also called an established church or state church) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. ...

Even though the NDP launched extensive campaigns that aimed at decreasing the support of this slogan and claiming the separation of the state and religion, the NDP itself as well as other groups have used either Islamic or Coptic religious figures in support of their programs.

Many analysts fear that such introduction of religion into politics would threaten reform towards a secular and liberal country as well as potentially alienating its Coptic population.

Failure of secularism

The official political parties and specificaly the liberal left have lost their seats in addition to their ideological influence with the voting population. In addition to symbolic and leading figures losing their seats, the failure of its ideas in addition to its lack of mobility and geniune political activity, have put the major opposition parties with no more than 10 seats which is a very small percentage.

The major political parties formed the United National Front for Change (UNFC), which provided ambiguous programmes fro political and constitutional reform yet without any connection with grassroots constituencies resulting in wholesale losses for its fielded candidates.

The political failure doesn't only involve the opposition but also the NDP. The NDP has lost over 100 of its seats with some of its top influential reform figures as well as long-serving political figures in this election. The NDP has also failed to "get out the vote". The low turnout which is estimated to be around 25% as well as the fact that around half of the MB votes were protest votes against the NDP's power monopoly. Get out the vote, sometimes GOTV, is a term used to describe two categories of political activity, both aimed at increasing the number of votes cast in one or more elections. ...

The NDP still maintains a comfortable hold of 68% of the Assembly seats, which shall enable it to push its program, however many say now that it won't be as smooth as before.

2011 Presidential elections

The failure to achieving the 5% threshold by the major opposition parties, whether independently or collectively, has endangered its involvement in the upcoming Presidential Elections in 2011. The amendment of article 76 of the Constitution, which allowed multi-candidate presidential elections, yet put draconian rules for party nominees, is thought to be in need of alteration to remove the 5% restriction. Without such alteration, the 2011 presidential elections will be little more than a modified version of the single-candidate poll it previously was for the past 5 decades or so.

Future reform

The results of the election has triggered a fierce debate about the future of the reform process, now in the hands of the oddest of political couples; the NDP businessmen and the Islamist bloc. The exclusion of the left is rather unsettling for Egyptian political analysts. However the continuation of the national dialogue between different political forces and groups is seen crucial for a more balanced reform.

Analysts predict inevitable clashes between the NDP and MB over policy, the assembly may quickly find itself hamstrung, in which case it might well be dissolved by the president. There had been calls from across the political spectrum that the only way out of the current impasse is to establish a new political party capable of staking out the middle ground between the NDP and MB. The President of the Arab republic of Egypt is the elected Head of State of Egypt. ...

^{http://weekly.ahram.org.eg}

A number of amendments are thought to be at the head of the reform agenda. Some concerning political practice, political parties law, citizenship rights, revocation of the aincent state of emergency and more democratization of the Egyptian political process. These reforms were personally announced by President Mubarak, and was center of the NDP official presidential and parliamentary election campaigns. ... Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt Muhammad Hosni Said Mubarak (Arabic : محمد حسنى سيد مبارك ) (born May 4, 1928) commonly known as Hosni Mubarak (Arabic: حسنى مبارك ) has been the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt for twenty-four years, since 14 October 1981. ...

Voting system change

The failure of the parties to obtain a significant number of seats in addition to the spread of money-induced violence and voting, have led to the belief that the current system of voting is not suitable at this stage for the Egyptian political reform. More activists and politicians are now debating for its change for upcoming elections.

External links

• Egyptian Organization for Human Rights Initial Report
• Al Ahram File on Parliamentary Elections 2005
• Israel and Egypt's elections
• The Brotherhood Programme