Osama Sharshar writes ✍️
I thought long and hard about the electoral farce that unfolded during the first phase of Egypt’s parliamentary elections—across Upper Egypt, the New Valley, Matrouh, Beheira, and our beloved Alexandria. Complaints from candidates exposed violations and absurdities never witnessed in any parliamentary race before, not even in the infamous 2010 elections that helped ignite public anger at the time.
Today, in an age where social media unmasks every transgression, the collective Egyptian mind rejects such chaos instinctively and unequivocally.
Cries from independent candidates laid bare the truth: some parties—ironically calling themselves “national”—had demanded tens of millions of pounds for a single seat. The biggest scandal, however, lay in the so-called “closed list,” which, as Dr. Gouda Abdel-Khaleq had warned in the National Dialogue, severs the natural link between voter and representative, dropping parachuted strangers upon the public through money and influence of unknown origin.
Appeals to the President multiplied—from independent candidates and distinguished women alike. One female candidate revealed that a party demanded 30 million EGP to place her on its list. In New Cairo, another was asked for 20 million. A candidate from Itay El-Baroud was told he had reached the run-off after earlier being informed he had already won—he withdrew in protest. The shock deepened when MP Nashwa El-Deeb resigned before the race even began. In Imbaba, Dr. Shadia Thabet pleaded publicly for the intervention of the President, the First Lady, and the National Council for Women as twelve candidates allegedly mobilized voters against her.
These cries forced us to pause and reflect on the reputation of a nation—a reputation threatened by scenes that ignited widespread public indignation at home and abroad. Videos circulated endlessly, documenting the circulation of political money and boxes of goods handed to the poor. Citizens saw corruption unfold in broad daylight, in a way unprecedented in Egypt’s electoral history. Yes, malpractice existed in the days of the dissolved National Democratic Party, but it was executed with a ruthless professionalism—not the chaotic amateurism now tarnishing the country’s name at a historic moment when Egypt is preparing to inaugurate the Grand Egyptian Museum, a masterpiece built by the hands of its youth, linking ancient glory to modern aspiration.
Meanwhile, on the opposite shore of events, President Sisi succeeded in halting displacement from Gaza and blocking attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause. Egypt—its leadership, its army, its intelligence agencies, and its people—hosted a landmark peace summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. Even the President of the United States, Donald Trump, came to Cairo and Sharm El-Sheikh to sign ceasefire agreements.
At this moment—when Egypt’s name soared across the world—came this scandal. Why now? And for whose benefit?
Just recently, elections in Iraq were praised by foreign correspondents and rights organizations. Iraq succeeded, while Egypt, home to one of the oldest parliaments on Earth—founded in 1866—witnessed chaos that became the talk of local, Arab, and international media. This mishandling handed the Muslim Brotherhood’s digital brigades, like Rassd and its ilk, the perfect opportunity to fish in troubled waters, amplifying every flaw and complaint to smear Egypt globally, as if Egypt were conducting parliamentary elections for the very first time.
The chief culprit, I believe, lies in political parties built on a vacuum—parties that introduced an electoral innovation that undermines the entire process: the “unified list” of ideologically and politically incompatible parties. They marketed it as an electoral alliance rather than a political coalition. But such lists, and the treatment of independent candidates, produce MPs who do not grasp the significance of the Egyptian Parliament, the role of a representative, or the essence of legislative oversight. Too many—though not all—are unaware that a parliamentary seat is a responsibility, not an ornament.
What happened is a stain—a disgrace—upon parties that prioritized positions over principles, overlooking Egypt’s wealth of honorable, capable, independent figures.
The chaos of the first phase—and what may come in the second—is a warning: we are forgetting Egypt’s value and the dignity of its people. Napoleon Bonaparte said in 1798: “Whoever possesses Egypt possesses the key to the East.”
But possessing that key is not material—it is cultural power, historical depth, intellectual radiance, pluralism, religious harmony, military strength, security, justice, and scientific brilliance. It is a nation where the Azhar and the Coptic Church stand as twin pillars, and where the armed forces and police guard the peace of its people.
Yet these parties’ choices insulted Egypt’s image and the dignity of its citizens.
At last, I propose that honorable Egyptians—independents, patriots, inside and outside the country—establish a new party: “The Party of a Nation’s Name” (Hizb Sam‘at Watan). Not Mostaqbal Watan, but a party that truly carries the nation’s reputation. A party that gathers rather than divides, that excludes no one, that does not privilege the wealthy over the honorable, and that reflects the brilliance of Egypt’s youth—who make up 70% of its population—and the excellence of its women, who have proven their leadership in every field.
Such a party could become a new beacon in Cairo—a civil, enlightened, patriotic force that restores faith in political life and elevates Egypt’s name across all arenas, especially the parliamentary sphere, where the image has grown dim, negative, and painful.
Those who corrupted the first electoral phase are not of us—and we are not of them. The stain they left on Egypt’s political life cannot be cleansed except through nullifying the elections, rerunning them, and prohibiting local powerbrokers—district chiefs, elders, factory owners—from dictating whom citizens should vote for.
Only then can trust be rebuilt. Only then can a new page be opened between state and people. And only then can President Sisi enter history as the first Egyptian leader to protect the Name of a Nation.
