Preliminary results from the first round of parliamentary elections suggested that the electoral coalition For the Love of Egypt (Fi Hob Misr) has made sweeping gains, with Al-Nour Party far behind in second place. The elections, however, were undermined by a severe shortage in voter turnout, which Prime Minister Sherif Ismail placed between 15 and 16 percent on Sunday as public sector workers were given half of Monday off work to encourage them to vote. Most boycotters saw the election as a sham designed to increase President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s support or give the illusion of democracy. This article gives an overview of the For the Love of Egypt coalition. WHAT IS FOR THE LOVE OF EGYPT? For the love of Egypt is not a political party but an electoral coalition of ten political parties. The most prominent of these are the Wafd Party, the Free Egyptians Party (Al Masreyeen Al-Ahrar) founded by Naguib Sawiris and the Conference Party (Hezb Al-Tagammu’), itself a union of various leftist and liberal parties. The Conservative Party also rejoined the list after having withdrawn for reasons the leadership dismissed as a “misunderstanding over party representation…
For The Love of Egypt: 6 Things to Know About Egypt’s Next Majority Party
October 21, 2015
