1957 Egyptian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Egypt on 3 July 1957, having originally been scheduled for November 1956, but postponed due to the Suez Crisis.[1] The first since the 1952 revolution, which saw King Farouk overthrown, and the approval of a new constitution in a referendum in June 1956, the election was carried out on a non-partisan basis,[2] although nearly 50% of candidates were rejected by army officials for being "undesirable" or "unworthy".[1] They were also the first elections in Egypt in which women had the right to vote or stand for election.[3] Despite only six women contesting the election out of a total of over 2,000 candidates, and 70% of Egyptian men being against their presence in parliament,[4] Rawya Ateya and Amina Shukri were elected, becoming the first women parliamentarians in the Arab world.[3][5]

Following its election, the 350-member National Assembly was seated on 22 July.[6] However, it had little power, with its votes against government policy being ignored by President Gamal Abdel Nasser.[1] The Assembly was dissolved on 10 February 1958 following Egypt and Syria merging to form of the United Arab Republic, and the establishment of a joint National Assembly with 400 members from Egypt and 200 from Syria.[6]

References

1. The Middle East today p241
2. Egypt's Paradoxical Elections Archived 2010-11-30 at the Wayback Machine Middle East Report, No. 238
3. Woman's struggle for clout Archived 2011-04-03 at the Wayback Machine Al-Ahram
4. Women Office Seekers Create Furore Herald-Journal, 6 June 1957
5. Magdi, Ne'maat (25 August 2009). راوية عطية: أول نائبة مصرية بعد الثورة [Rawya Ateya: the First Egyptian Female Deputy After the Revolution]. Al Rai. The Parliament of Women (in Arabic) (11012). p. 7. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
6. Representative Life After 1952 Revolution Egyptian People's Assembly