Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s remarks on Monday about “violations” tainting the first round of parliamentary elections triggered a political and legal jolt whose repercussions remain unfolding. Just hours after the presidential statement addressed to the Egyptian public, affirming the need to safeguard their will and urging the National Elections Authority (NEA) to review and rule on the complaints, the Authority held a press conference asserting its commitment to the integrity of the electoral process and announcing that the results of the appeals would be released on Tuesday.
In a rare moment, political and party forces, both opposition and pro-government, aligned in support of the President’s decision. Meanwhile, the political sphere remains on edge, awaiting the outcomes of the challenges and complaints.
The number of electoral appeals filed regarding the first phase of the first round in fourteen governorates reached eighty-eight submissions, which are currently being examined meticulously by the competent committees. Initial assessments suggest that the Authority may opt for partial reruns in districts where violations are confirmed.
What did the President say?
In his statement published on his official Facebook page, President Sisi spoke of incidents and “violations” that occurred in certain electoral districts during the first phase of the parliamentary elections, urging the National Elections Authority (NEA) to scrutinize them thoroughly, even if that meant canceling the results of the entire phase.
Sisi wrote: “I have been informed of the events that took place in some electoral districts where competition occurred among individual candidates. Examining and ruling on these events falls exclusively within the jurisdiction of the National Elections Authority, which is independent in its functions under the law establishing it.”
He added: “I ask the esteemed Authority to exercise full diligence when reviewing these events and the appeals submitted regarding them, and to make decisions that satisfy God Almighty and honestly reveal the true will of the voters. The Authority must ensure the utmost transparency by verifying that each candidate’s representative has received a copy of the vote count report from the subcommittee, so that Egypt’s parliamentarians are genuine representatives of the people under the parliamentary dome. The Authority should not hesitate to take the correct decision when unable to ascertain the true will of the voters, whether by fully cancelling this phase of the elections or partially cancelling it in one or more districts, with reruns to be held later.”
Sisi continued: “I also ask the National Elections Authority to publicly disclose the measures taken regarding the electoral propaganda violations it has received, so that effective oversight over campaigning is ensured and so that campaigning remains within the legal framework without repetition in the upcoming rounds.”
According to two well-informed sources who spoke to Zawia3, the President’s statement was prompted by sovereign reports presented to him in the preceding hours. These reports highlighted significant violations in several districts and warned of growing public resentment over the incidents, cautioning against disregarding the rising anger. The sources noted that these assessments led Sisi to address citizens directly through his official social media page, emphasizing respect for their will and reaffirming the integrity of the electoral process.
The reports, the sources said, “offered a detailed assessment of public reaction to the violations and underlined the necessity of intervening to resolve the situation.” The President responded by assuring Egyptians that he was aware of the irregularities and that corrective measures were being considered.
The President’s remarks came in parallel with statements from pro-government parties and the Ministry of Interior denying the occurrence of any electoral violations. The Ministry asserted in a statement on Sunday that reports of irregularities or fraud—circulated by what it described as “websites affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood”—were false, claiming that the widely shared videos had been manipulated using artificial intelligence.
How did the National Elections Authority respond?
At exactly 4 p.m. on Sunday, only a few hours after the President’s statement, Counselor Hazem Badawi, Chairman of the National Elections Authority (NEA), announced in a press conference that the Authority was reviewing the vote-count records and cross-checking them with the general committees. He said a decisive ruling would be made regarding what took place during the first phase of the parliamentary elections, even if that required canceling the elections entirely or in specific districts.
He added that the Authority “cannot conceal a violation or protect any violator,” stressing that the NEA’s Board “seeks nothing but the interest of the people.” He noted that the Authority was continuing to examine all complaints filed by voters, candidates, and observers, and would take the correct legal decision even if that meant fully cancelling or partially cancelling the elections.
Dr. Amr Hashem Rabie, Deputy Director of the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, argues that what occurred throughout the management of the electoral process clearly demonstrates the National Elections Authority’s loss of independence. He says that if there were any sense of responsibility, the Authority “would have immediately resigned.” According to Rabie, the unfolding events reveal a body that is “feeble and submissive to instructions,” participating—whether through action or silence—in corrupting the electoral process by placing specific names at the top of electoral lists, overlooking “seat-selling” transactions, facilitating the inheritance-like transfer of reserve seats, and allowing candidates to shift between districts without any professional or legal criteria. He adds that the deliberate exclusion of several opposition candidates fits the same pattern and deepens doubts about the integrity of the entire electoral scene.
Rabie tells Zawia3 that these practices make the Authority “disastrous by every measure,” tarnishing the state’s image by overseeing elections in which nearly half the seats are effectively uncontested. Such a process, he says, empties politics of its substance and produces a purely cosmetic electoral scene that does not reflect genuine voter will. He notes that the current trajectory signals an intention to push the process forward as is—shaping the appearance of order while diluting the essence of the election and stripping it of meaning.
The Deputy Director of the Ahram Center anticipates that the NEA is now attempting to respond to the President’s directives by crafting a “balanced” outcome, likely involving reruns in a limited number of districts—a handful among the seventy that saw clear violations—to give the impression of compliance with presidential guidance. Ultimately, he believes the Authority will push through what it sees as suitable, making only minimal cosmetic adjustments so the election proceeds within the predetermined framework. The final decision, he says, will reflect “a superficial remedy rather than a substantive one,” leaving the core problems of the electoral process unaddressed.
The first phase of the parliamentary elections, held on 10 and 11 November across 14 governorates, witnessed a series of irregularities that reignited questions about the integrity and purpose of the vote. The polling days coincided with a flow of reports and eyewitness accounts detailing vote-buying, organized voter direction, and widespread use of charitable organizations for mobilization in favor of pro-government candidates. Added to this was the sudden withdrawal of former MP Nashwa El-Deeb, who protested what she described as unequal conditions and a total lack of transparency. Amid low turnout and the absence of basic safeguards—such as privacy curtains and indelible ink—the elections appeared less as a democratic contest and more as a procedural exercise designed to reproduce the existing political map.
From the earliest hours of voting, Nashwa El-Deeb’s withdrawal dominated headlines, after she announced she was leaving the race in protest of what she called “the absence of transparency and equal opportunity,” an unprecedented move from an MP long aligned with the narrative of the “New Republic.” As footage of cash handouts and food boxes circulated online, eyewitnesses and observers increasingly described near-total control of the voting process by the pro-government “Mostaqbal Watan” party, aided by charitable associations that, according to numerous accounts, operated as informal electoral arms.
Field testimonies obtained by Zawia3 from several governorates confirmed this pattern: a voting process heavily dominated by Mostaqbal Watan’s machinery, both in mobilization and election-day management. According to these accounts, the party relied on multiple charitable organizations to transport voters and distribute coupon cards redeemable for cash—up to around 300 pounds depending on the district—as well as boxes of food supplies used to sway votes directly.
This election carries particular weight, as it precedes the end of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s third term in 2030—the final term permitted under the current Constitution. The next parliament will therefore play a decisive role should the President seek to amend the Constitution to extend his stay in office. The elections also come roughly three months after the August Senate elections, which saw a turnout of 17.1%.
Commendation
Dr. Freddy El-Bayadi, Member of Parliament and Deputy President of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, welcomed the President’s statement regarding the incidents and violations that occurred in several districts during the individual-seat elections. He described the President’s emphasis on safeguarding voter will and elevating transparency as “an important political message that must be immediately translated into concrete actions.”
In a statement sent to Zawia3, El-Bayadi said he “clearly appreciates” the President’s recent affirmation of the need to respect voter will, uphold the independence of the National Elections Authority, and reinforce transparency at every stage of the electoral process. He stressed that this presidential stance places institutions, agencies, and officials before a direct national responsibility to convert these directives into urgent measures that restore public confidence and demonstrate the Egyptian state’s commitment to protecting electoral integrity and ensuring genuine representation of the people’s will.
El-Bayadi asserted that if there is a genuine desire to fully restore trust, security and executive bodies must commit to complete transparency regarding the incidents and violations that were documented, and must refrain from targeting, threatening, or pressuring any citizen, agent, or employee who reports violations or provides testimony related to the electoral process. He added that candidates and their agents must be enabled to obtain copies of the subcommittee vote-count records as required by law, and that information should be made available to the public regarding actions taken in response to violations in campaigning, voting, or counting, in order to enhance societal oversight and ensure the integrity of the electoral path.
He added that the President’s call for the National Elections Authority to conduct full scrutiny and take decisions that “please God and reflect the true will of the voters” is an explicit invitation to uphold the rule of law — a call that now requires swift and genuine implementation by all state bodies so that citizens can be assured that their votes are respected and their rights protected. He noted that the moment the country is experiencing is a critical one, and that responsibility requires demonstrating — both domestically and internationally — that Egyptian elections are administered with integrity and that the state does not tolerate any form of misconduct, as the nation’s political future is larger than any individual actions, pressures, or violations.
El-Bayadi stressed that protecting whistleblowers and witnesses, ensuring full transparency, and enabling agents to obtain copies of count records are “indispensable steps” if the state intends to rebuild trust between citizens and the ballot box. He added that the President’s directive to the National Elections Authority to take the correct decision — including full or partial annulment when the true will of voters cannot be determined — represents “a step that reinforces the rule of law and affirms that the people’s will is the only reference point.”
He concluded his statement by saying: “This moment demands clarity, firmness, and respect for the people’s will… Egypt’s political future cannot bear even a shadow of doubt.”
What About the Election Law?
For his part, Talaat Khalil — coordinator of the Civil Democratic Movement and member of the Presidential Council of the Conservative Party — called for seizing the current momentum sparked by the President’s remarks on the electoral process to revisit the election law itself, particularly the closed-list winner-takes-all system long opposed by the opposition.
Khalil told Zawia3: “We thank the President for his position regarding the violations that marred the electoral process, and we also demand a full review of the election law and the adoption of a proportional list system. It is the original electoral framework in Egypt and ensures fair representation for all.”
He argued that forming a single unified list replaced the natural competition among political parties for public confidence, turning all parties into components of one list crafted through security consensus rather than political contestation. According to Khalil, these unified lists are not vehicles for democratic representation but mechanisms to ensure the passage of MPs under full control, instead of deputies chosen by voters. He described this model as a deliberate silencing of citizens’ voices and a systematic marginalization of politics and its role in Egypt.
Khalil stressed that the current electoral law serves those who seek to exclude citizens from political participation and remove parties from their natural function of competition and representation. He added that the law’s architects knew precisely that its inevitable outcome would be a parliament composed of figures approved by security bodies, not by the Egyptian street.
The first phase of Egypt’s House of Representatives elections began last Monday, with voters casting ballots over two days. Results were scheduled for announcement on Tuesday afternoon. The first phase covered 14 governorates: Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, New Valley, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira, and Matrouh.
The elections are conducted under a mixed system combining closed-list candidacy and individual seats. More than 2,000 candidates are contesting the 284 individual-seat districts, while a single list — the “National List for Egypt,” comprising 12 parties from both pro-government and nominal opposition blocs — is running nationwide for another 284 seats, representing half of the 568-seat parliament. The list is poised to win by acclamation should it secure just 5 percent of valid votes.
