Why are Egyptians dancing outside polling stations?

Despite crippling poverty, soaring prices and a steady decline in living and economic conditions, scenes of dancing and singing were prominent outside polling stations during last week’s Egyptian Senate elections.

The ruling Egyptian regime is seeking to project an image that contradicts reality, amid notably low voter participation (around 63 million Egyptians are eligible to vote) in the elections of a council that was abolished in 2013 on the grounds of being ineffective but reinstated to parliamentary life under constitutional amendments approved in 2019.

 The Egyptian Senate — the upper chamber of parliament — comprises 300 members, 200 of whom are elected, while the president appoints the remaining 100. Its role is to “study and give an opinion” on matters and legislation referred to it by the president or the House of Representatives, the lower chamber. Its opinions are advisory and non-binding.

 The National Election Authority has announced that the results of the vote — held in more than 8,000 polling stations under the supervision of 9,500 judges — are scheduled to be released next Tuesday.

 Vote-buying

In the Dokki district of Giza, near the capital, a popular singer known as Essam Sasa was seen standing atop an open-top double-decker bus decorated with the Egyptian flag, performing a set of patriotic songs in an apparent bid to stir enthusiasm. The bus toured the area around a polling station, accompanied by cars waving Egyptian flags, according to Youm7 — a newspaper owned by the Egyptian intelligence — which also published a video of the events (watch here: https://2u.pw/ekHZX).

Elsewhere, the festivities took on different forms, with DJs, drums and traditional reed flutes, amid ululations and dancing — scenes that, at first glance, may have seemed “spontaneous”, as male and female voters gathered outside polling stations from the early hours.

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 A “coupon” was distributed to elderly men and women, entitling them to food supplies worth 200 Egyptian pounds (around $4) in return for gathering outside polling stations and voting for candidates from the Mostaqbal Watan Party, which is closely aligned with Egyptian intelligence, according to eyewitnesses.

The Egyptian Social Democratic Party, a member of the “National List for Egypt”, said in a statement that it had noticed the mobilisation of people not registered on voter rolls in order to create fake queues outside polling stations. It also reported witnessing the distribution of “cash coupons” to voters, valued between 200 and 300 Egyptian pounds (approximately $4 to $6), with the aim of influencing their choices.

 In addition to vote-buying, electoral violations were recorded, including the use of places of worship, government facilities and public institutions for campaigning, as well as the involvement of some executive officials in supporting candidates — without any deterrent action from the National Election Authority — according to the Cairo-based Egyptian Coalition for Human Rights and Development.

Judges who oversaw the electoral process, speaking on condition of anonymity, said turnout was minimal, while others spoke of pressure from security agencies to push voters to participate, according to the independent outlet Mada Masr. 

Dancing and singing

In a country under a tight security grip, the ruling circles have consistently promoted their preferred narrative through a vast media apparatus — newspapers, websites, television channels and active social media networks — creating the impression of a high turnout for what they describe as a “democratic celebration.”

To the tune of Teslam El-Ayadi (thank you), with dancing and ululations, voters gathered outside polling stations in Al-Haram on the first day of the Senate elections. With reed flutes and the tanoura dance, celebrations took place outside polling stations in Manshiyat Al-Qanater. In Al-Matariya, young people danced to Boshret Kheir (good news) during the Senate elections. With reed flutes and ululations, a wedding-style procession was used to rally voters for the Senate in Minya (watch the video: https://2u.pw/suh5g).

The above is a random sample of what the regime’s propaganda machine promoted during its coverage of the electoral process. Journalist Amer Al-Masry interprets this as a form of political point-scoring, with the ruling regime considering such a loud, choreographed display of dancing as a decisive victory over its rival — the opposition.

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However, political analyst Mohamed Fathy, speaking to Middle East Monitor, offered a different interpretation of the dancing phenomenon. He said that those performing outside polling stations are not concerned with politics or the outcome of the elections but are focused on securing payment or material rewards. They may even try to put on a better show and display greater enthusiasm in front of those who brought them to the polling stations, to ensure they receive money or food.

The dance performances outside polling stations are often carried out by women who appear to be from poor backgrounds, or by young men who seem illiterate and unemployed, hoping to earn any financial return during a season in which spending on election campaigning and voter mobilisation intensifies.

 Field teams and rights groups documented cases of vote-buying in some polling stations, with amounts ranging from 100 to 500 Egyptian pounds (about $2 to $10), or through the distribution of meals and boxes of food supplies, according to the independent outlet Zawya Taleta.

 Widespread criticism

Those orchestrating the elections did not stop at the dancing that has marked every presidential and parliamentary vote in Egypt since the military coup of 3 July 2013. They also repeated familiar actions from earlier elections, which have become the subject of widespread ridicule and mockery.

Among these publicity stunts were bringing patients to vote in ambulances, carrying people with disabilities to cast their votes, and parading a bride and groom at the end their wedding night to cast their votes in the Senate elections in Fayoum Governorate, in central Egypt. 

The ridicule and discontent over such displays prompted former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Cooperation Ziad Bahaa-Eldin to openly wonder, on his personal Facebook page, saying: “I do not know who is responsible for the idea of dancing outside polling stations, but the truth is that it has become a ridiculous and disgraceful image — especially when it spreads in the media and across social media platforms, making us look embarrassing in front of sister countries” (post link: https://2u.pw/sqUfO).

Engineer Essam Lala, former adviser to the Minister of Local Development for Digital Transformation, described the dancing displays as “an insult to the Egyptian people, especially the underprivileged, with repulsive scenes outside polling stations that damage Egypt’s reputation around the world” (post link: https://2u.pw/2TDt7).

 Ahmed El-Sayed El-Naggar, former chairman of the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, wrote: “I would really like to know what dancing — vulgar and insulting to the electoral process itself — has to do with going to vote. Does this dancing express satisfaction and joy, or does it reflect the willingness of some people to accept such misery in order to earn a little money to help them cope with poverty and need? And, on the other hand, it shows the determination of others to project a disgraceful image to the world — an image produced only by minds as barren as a desert, devoid of any creativity?” (post link: https://2u.pw/djVL3).

 Absent competition

Alongside the dancing and vote-buying, genuine competitiveness was absent from the Senate elections, as the “National List for Egypt” — comprising 13 parties and political entities — contested all 100 list seats without any rivals, meaning it wins them unopposed.

In contrast, the Civil Democratic Movement — a coalition of liberal and leftist parties — announced a full boycott of the Senate elections in protest at what it described as a “lack of guarantees for fairness.”

Prominent parties and political forces were also absent from the electoral landscape, forcibly excluded through administrative and judicial decisions to freeze or ban their activities, or by jailing their leaders on politically motivated charges — including the Muslim Brotherhood, the 6 April Youth Movement, and the Strong Egypt Party.

A run-off for the Senate elections is scheduled for 27 and 28 August, with the final results to be announced on 4 September. However, there is no public enthusiasm in Egypt for results widely seen as predetermined, given that one-third of the seats (100) are appointed by the president, while another third (100) was already allocated to the unified “National List for Egypt”, which won unopposed.

That leaves only 100 seats to be decided under the individual candidacy system, where the outcome is determined by political money and the degree of closeness to the security and intelligence services — continuing Egypt’s tradition of stage-managed elections, accompanied by drums, singing and dancing.

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