• FJP News
  • November 29, 2011
  • 6 minutes read

FJP Press Release No. (4), Parliamentary Elections, 2011

FJP Press Release No. (4), Parliamentary Elections, 2011

 Polling Stations closed Monday night after eligible Egyptians participated in the first stage of their historic and unprecedented democratically held parliamentary elections surprising the world just as they had during the revolution.The long queues revealed the voters intent in making history and shaping Egypt’s future reaping yet another fruit of the January 25 Revolution.


Firstly: 

A high turnout was witnessed in all the constituencies involved, average 30-32%. The governorate of Port Said recorded 46% turnout, the highest percentage of voters casting their votes. Kafr el Sheik recorded a turnout of 44% while Fayoum and Luxor recorded 37% and 30% respectively. 31% of residents in Alexandria cast their votes while 27 % of Cairennes took to the polls. Assuit recorded a turnout of 30% while the Red Sea reported 26%. The high turnout indicated the people have abandoned their passiveness and truly desire to live in a democratic environment despite the challenges and obstacles ahead.

Second: Committees

Approximately 130 polling stations mostly in Cairo, failed to remain open all day to allow people to cast their votes. We hope that this situation can be  solved during the second electoral day and the problems leading to this be overcome, in order that people can cast their votes to continue the democratic process.

Third: Protecting Ballot Boxes

Numerous popular committees cooperated with the military and police to protect the polling stations; a clear indication of the people’s desire to safeguard their vote and the ballot boxes. Nevertheless, some of these popular committees namely in the constituencies of Luxor, The Red Sea, and Fayoum were banned from participating with the police and armed forces to protect the polls. The FJP, however, fully trusts the capability of the military and officials from the Interior Ministry  to protect these boxes and the people’s voices. It is also confident that they will ensure the integrity of the election. The massive turnout of the people is a clear indication that people are craving democracy.

Fourth Media:

According to the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), by the negative reportings by few media outlets to distort the day’s success it is clear which factions are working towards Egypt’ stability and which is aiming at hindering the process. Some of these channels are privately owned by rivals in the elections while others belong to members still loyal to the ousted regime. It would have been more suiting to highlight the day’s success rather than focus on the few negative points that happened during the day in a lame effort to downplay the success of the day and spoil the people’s sense of pride and contentedness.