Judge Ahmed Saad El-Din was appointed as the new secretary-general for Egypt's parliament, according to state-owned media on Sunday. According to head of the non-governmental National Center for Parliamentary Consulting, Ramy Mohsen, the position is an administrative one, and therefore falls under direct state authority, like any other official role. "However, the president of the parliament should be elected, and will have two assistants," Mohsen explained to Daily News Egypt on Sunday. This comes as parliamentary elections resumed Sunday in four constituencies located in the governorates of Beheira, Alexandria and Beni Suef, which were among the 14 governorates of the first electoral phase held in October. Candidates are supposed to win by a majority of 50+1%. In case none of the candidates obtains that majority, runoff elections are yet to be scheduled by the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC). Several court verdicts ordered that elections be repeated in the constituencies of Damanhour centre in Beheira, Al-Raml constituency in Alexandria, as well as the two constituencies of Al-Wasty and Beni Suef centre in Beni Suef. Nearly 21 polling stations did not open their doors at the official hour of 9am in Damanhour, according to the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, which further reported low participation in Alexandria. In Beheira, 52 candidates were initially competing for four seats in the Damanhour centre constituency. There are 551,752 registered voters. Eight candidates made it to the runoff, six of them independent candidates, including a woman. The court ordered the removal of one candidate ruled not eligible, while Al-Nour Party said it withdrew one of its two candidates. Meanwhile, political parties that put up candidates for the constituencies included Al-Nour, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party , Al-Ghad, the National Movement, the Future of a Nation Party (FNP), the Reform and Renaissance, the Free Egyptians Party, the Republican People, the Socialist Popular Alliance, Al-Wafd Party and the Democratic Peace Party. Only the last two parties made it to the runoff with one candidate each. As for Al-Raml constituency in Alexandria, 68 candidates are competing over four seats. As many as 647,088 voters are registered in that electoral district. Before the election results were annulled by a court, the FNP's candidate was in the lead with nearly 41% of the votes. He was followed by five independent candidates, including one woman and two candidates from the Republican People's Party and Egypt's Renaissance Party. Finally, in Beni Suef, election results were annulled in two constituencies, both with a total database of 434,000 voters. For Beni Suef Centre constituency, there were 37 candidates competing over three seats. Six candidates had made it to the runoff with weak percentages, as the highest score was nearly 20% of valid votes. They included four independents and two candidates from the Guards of a Nation and Al-Wafd parties. In the same governorate, Al-Wasty constituency is allocated two seats and has 21 competitors. Initial results for the constituency included two independents and two candidates from FEP and FNP that made it to the runoff. Elections in those constituencies will continue on Monday.
