A few metres from a polling station in Sohag district, southern Egypt, Safiya seemed enthusiastic about November\u2019s election. Asked whom she supported, she named a man from her village who had helped her or a relative. She did not know his party or political background. His name, symbol and previous assistance were enough.<\/p>\n
Safiya Ali, 37<\/strong>, who has a technical-school qualification, says her knowledge of political parties mainly comes from television advertising and banners. She confuses Mostaqbal Watan\u2014Nation\u2019s Future\u2014with \u201cEgypt\u2019s Future\u201d. \u201cWe knew the National Democratic Party in the past. Now there are many parties, and of course we do not know how many or what they are called,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Nearby, Hajj Said, a man in his fifties reading a newspaper, joined the conversation. Asked about parties\u2019 effectiveness and the election, he smiled ruefully. \u201cParties have become like little shops,\u201d he said, pointing to a grocery store.<\/p>\n He remembers parties with recognisable ideas: Al-Wafd as liberal and oppositional, and the National Democratic Party as the party of government, albeit with competent figures. Today, he says, dozens offer little value. Some distribute oil, sugar, pasta and rice during elections; others seek alliances to secure parliamentary seats. Once voting ends, they disappear until the next contest.<\/p>\n Their accounts echo responses to a Zawia3 questionnaire involving 100 people<\/strong> of different ages and educational backgrounds, gathered in the preceding weeks. Reporting sought geographical breadth, concentrating on Cairo, Alexandria, Giza and Upper Egypt. This was a journalistic questionnaire, not a nationally representative probability survey.<\/p>\n It took place amid low electoral participation and disputed House results. The Arabic report cites 17.1% turnout in August\u2019s Senate election and widespread annulments in the first phase of the House election. Its claim that participation was the lowest ever is not established by a comparable historical series presented in the article.<\/p>\n All respondents said parties did not represent their demands, while 97% expressed distrust. The result describes this group\u2019s views, not the views of all Egyptians.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The text reports that 77% rated parties\u2019 performance in the 2020\u20132025 parliament as weak, while its accompanying chart shows 72%. It also cites 92.1% viewing electoral participation by parties as political decoration rather than genuine competition. Without question-level response counts or the raw data, that decimal figure cannot be converted reliably into a count out of 100.<\/p>\n\n
Trust in political parties: Zawia3 questionnaire<\/h3>\n
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\n \nResponse<\/th>\n Reported share<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Do not trust parties<\/td>\n 97%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Trust parties<\/td>\n 3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>