Egyptian political parties started announcing on Thursday the number of total parliamentary seats won after unofficial results started coming out from party representatives and media outlets present during the vote count.
The runoffs of the second phase of the parliamentary elections concluded at 9pm Cairo local time (CLT), signaling an end to Egypt’s four-year parliamentary hiatus. Official results will be announced on Friday.
The liberal Free Egyptians party, owned by business and media tycoon Naguib Sawiris, appears to have secured the majority of party seats with a total of 65 winning candidates.
Mostaqbal Watan (future of a nation) party said they won a total of 50 parliamentary seats in the two election phases.
The party, headed by 24-year old former student union head Mohamed Badran, was not initially on analysts’ radar for successful parties.
The party is supported by business tycoon Mohamed Farag Amer and steel tycoon Ahmed Abou Hashima.
Meanwhile, the liberal Wafd Party said they secured a total of 45 parliamentary seats.
The ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party said they garnered 12 seats in both polls phases.
In the 2011 parliamentary elections, the Nour party gained second party majority in the parliament with around 24 percent of seats.
Notable Figures
Preliminary results reveal that some of the notable figures that won in the second phase include controversial TV presenter Tawfik Okasha, with over 90,000 votes in his Daqahliya governorate’s Talkha constituency.
Another figure is controversial lawyer and Chairman of the Zamalek Club Mortada Mansour, who ran as an independent candidate.
Mansour is one of several prominent Mubarak-era figures who were accused of orchestrating the so-called "Battle of the Camel" during the 18-day uprising against dictator Hosni Mubarak, when a gang riding camels and horses charged into Tahrir Square and attacked protesters, killing 11 and injuring hundreds.
In 2012, Mansour and 24 others were acquitted of charges of inciting the violence.
Mansour’s son, Ahmed Mortada Mansour, a board member of Zamalek Club, already won a parliamentary seat in Giza’s Dokki and Agouza consistency, running for the Free Egyptians Party.
Hamdy Bekhit, a former military general and a renowned political and military expert, won in Cairo’s Nasr City district.
The former 2011 parliamentarian, Mohamed Abu-Hamed won in El-Waily district.
Abu-Hamed briefly occupied the position of vice president of the Free Egyptians party but quit the group in early 2012.
Egypt has been without a legislative body since a court dissolved in June 2012 the 2011 House of Representatives on constitutional grounds.
Since his election in June 2014, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has held legislative power in the absence of a parliament.
