Do we have a political system in Egypt? Perhaps in form but definitely not in substance. We may have a constitution, a head of state, a prime minister, a parliament, judicial institutions, political parties, and civil society organizations, but they cannot be considered part of an overall system. We don't have competent institutions. What we have is a man with powers to dismiss the prime minister, the ministers and even parliament. And that man can circumvent the judiciary by sending whoever he wants to exceptional tribunals. He can also prevent political parties and civil society organizations from playing an effective role. This means Egypt has only one political institution, namely the presidency, rendering all other institutions utterly inapt. Let's look at our political parties, which should be the pillars of governance under a pluralistic regime. We have 24 parties in Egypt that supposedly run in elections, aiming to win and form the government. Yet only one party wins every time, which is the party that the current president leads. Since its formation in 1987, that party has won seven elections--each time securing a majority of no less than 75 percent, sometimes even 90 percent, of seats in parliament. As for other parties, they remain outside parliament or they do not even run in elections in the first place because they lack sufficient candidates. Today in parliament, only four opposition parties are represented, with 11 out of 444 seats. A so-called "banned" group (the Muslim Brotherhood) has 88 seats, and 34 seats belong to independent MPs. Can this be considered a normal multiparty system? And yet if you read Article 76 of the Constitution you would get the impression that political parties are very strong and can serve as the pillars of political life. The regime is running the country in the same way it is running its local councils. It gives political parties the right to nominate candidates for presidential elections but with certain restrictions. What if a member of the "banned" group were to join a party and run in elections? I guess he could.
