Election results in the first phase of parliamentary elections will be announced within two days, Spokesman of the High Elections Committee (HEC) Omar Marwan said Monday night. He added that there have been no orders to extend voting for a third day. According to media reports, turnout remained low on the second day of voting, while the semi-governmental National Council for Human Rights said that an increased number of voters arrived in the early afternoon compared to the previous day. Preliminary figures suggest the Fi Hob Misr coalition has swept to victory in the list-based system in the first phase, with Islamist rivals the Nour Party lagging far behind. A disqualified candidate won 60 percent of votes in a polling station in Alexandria after a committee overseeing the vote failed to remove his name from ballot papers in time. Figures from the expat vote also began to trickle in on Monday, with the highest turnout of voters reportedly recorded in Kuwait at 12,600 votes. According to the HEC, a total of 35,000 Egyptian expatriates, or 5 percent of eligible voters, cast their votes. Observer missions documented violations in Egypt on Sunday and Monday. The Journalists Against Torture Observatory documented a total of nineteen violations against journalists in different governorates, while a team of international observers reported they were harassed by a security officer in Wadi al-Natrun. Clashes were reported between supporters of opposing candidates in Badrashein (Giza) and female students reportedly threw stones at a polling station in Damanhour in protest against the absence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the elections. A report by the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic ‎Studies revealed that forty-four political parties ‎contested in the first stage of elections. According to the report the number of legally licensed ‎political parties decreased to eighty-three in 2015, from over 100 in ‎‎2012. [Ahram Online, DNE, Mada Masr, Cairo Post, 10/20/2015]

POLITICS 

Egypt slams western media over claims of low turnout in parliamentary elections
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry took another swipe at foreign media outlets over its coverage of parliamentary elections, saying it reflects “another failed attempt to tarnish the country’s image.” Western reports indicated a low turnout during the first stage of the elections on Sunday and Monday. A statement by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said Monday that “attempts to jump to conclusions regarding the results and significance of the elections before the end of the first day of the first electoral phase, in order to meet publication deadlines, indicates these reports’ inaccuracy.” Abu Zeid added that such reports are implying that the opposition is absent because the “terrorist Brotherhood” is not participating. “Anyone with a basic knowledge of Egypt’s political landscape should know that this year’s parliamentary elections are subject to many complex factors,” he said, citing the development of parties, voters’ awareness, electoral fatigue, and the absence of polarization. [Ahram Online, SIS, 10/20/2015]

Also of Interest

• Election banners in Egypt’s past | Ahram Online
• Youm7 columnist says Egyptians prefer porn to politics | Reuters
• Egypt elections: Some aren’t running, some are boycotting, and this is why | Ahram Online
• Political parties exchange accusations of bribing on first elections day | DNE
• Two women qualified for runoffs in Egypt parliament elections | Cairo Post
• Deceased parliamentary candidate obtains 386 votes in Minya | Cairo Post
• Candidate says overly excited judge mistook him for a voter | AMAY
• Egypt government and media scurry to reverse low voter turnout | Aswat Masriya

COURTS

Pro-Morsi judges’ consideration of appeals postponed to December 14
The Higher Disciplinary Council for Judges postponed until December 14 the consideration of appeals submitted by thirty-one judges to revoke a decision that forced them into retirement. The Cairo Appeals Court forced forty-one judges into retirement in March for allegedly supporting Islamist former president Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Thirty-one of the judges were sent into compulsory retirement at the time for signing a statement condemning ousted president Mohamed Morsi’s removal. Another ten were accused of belonging to the ‘Judges for Egypt’ movement within the judiciary that is sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood. [DNE, 10/19/2015]

Also of Interest

• Businessman Suleiman Amer banned from travel | AMAY

ECONOMY

Egypt to buy Russian helicopters, hardware for new Mistral warships
The Kremlin’s Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov announced on Monday that Russia will sell Egypt helicopters and other hardware worth over $1 billion to equip the Mistral aircraft carriers Egypt recently bought from France. “Russia will be, if you want, a subcontractor, who will supply the missing equipment without which the Mistral warships are just tin cans. And of course, all the helicopters,” Ivanov said. The two ships are expected to arrive in Egypt by the summer of 2016. Meanwhile, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Sergey Kirienko, Director of the Russian government-run nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, on Monday, during which they discussed an offer by the corporation to construct Egypt’s long-awaited electricity-generating nuclear plant. A source close to the negotiations with the Russian side said that Egyptian companies’ could contribute up to 20 percent of the project’s needed capital. [Ahram Online, IBT, 10/19/2015]

Also of Interest

• Analysts say forex pressures on Egypt likely to continue for years (analysis) | Aswat Masriya
• Thirty-one investment requests submitted to Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority | DNE
• Sisi, Eni CEO discuss establishment of gas hub in East Mediterranean | Cairo Post
• Finance Minister says Egypt does not need to borrow from the IMF | AMAY (Arabic)
• Dealing with Egypt’s economic crisis (opinion) | Ahram Online
• Egyptian central bank holds pound steady; parallel market rate weaker | Reuters
• Egypt’s stocks rally amid average turnover | Ahram Online, SIS

SOCIETY & MEDIA

Doctors’ Syndicate requests permission to assess Esraa al-Taweel’s condition
The Doctors’ Syndicate has requested permission to visit detained student Esraa al-Taweel in Qanater Women’s Prison to assess her condition, as her family and lawyers argue she is being denied urgently needed medical care. Taweel was picked up by security forces after the dispersal of a protest on January 25, 2014 and suffered nerve damage due to injuries from a bullet wound she suffered during the dispersal. Her family says that prison authorities have denied her requests to undergo physiotherapy and fear that she may become permanently paralyzed. [Mada Masr, 10/19/2015]    

Also of Interest

• Egyptians mock empty polling stations on Twitter | Egypt Independent
• Folklore troupes refuse New Valley governor’s request to promote elections | AMAY
• US citizen describes torture in post-Morsi Egypt prison | Anadolu Agency
• Mohamed Fahmy vows to fight on after #FreeAJstaff | The Guardian

INTERNATIONAL

Egypt to rally international efforts against terrorism and boost cooperation says Shoukry  
Egypt will aim to utilize its two-year membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to mobilize the international community to fight terrorism, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday. Shoukry delivered a speech to the international conference on “Religious and Cultural Pluralism and Peaceful Coexistence in the Middle East” in Athens, where he stated that Egypt is keen to boost cooperation with Greece in the economic, cultural, and social domains. Shoukry discussed the existence of complicated and important events in the Middle East, noting that the crises in the region were exacerbated by the absence of dialogue against the spread of intellectual and religious doctrines based on rigid ideology, leading to growing violence, extremism and terrorism. On Tuesday, Shoukry travelled to Amman, Jordan, to take part in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Conference. There, he plans to further discuss opportunities of joint cooperation on security challenges, confronting extremism, refugees, and the promotion of interreligious dialogue in the Mediterranean region. [SIS, Cairo Post, 10/20/2015]