Polls opened in Egypt on Saturday for parliamentary elections that will stretch over several weeks and are set to be dominated by supporters of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. A first round of voting will end on Sunday, with a second round on Nov. 7-8. The remaining contested seats will be allocated to individual candidates, and Sisi can appoint up to 28 legislators directly. Mostaqbal Watn (Nation’s Future), which in August won nearly three-quarters of the contested seats in an election for Egypt’s Senate, an advisory body, is the favourite to come out top. As Sisi has consolidated control, interest in politics has dropped, with electoral turnout gradually declining.

Source: Daily Nation October 24, 2020 08:03 UTC