CAIRO

 Rifts have dogged a parliamentary alliance loyal to President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt’s newly-elected parliament, one week before the first session of the assembly.

Egypt held a two-phase parliamentary poll in October and November, the first since the 2013 coup against President Mohamed Morsi.

The vote -- the last step in an army-imposed transitional roadmap following Morsi’s ouster -- has seen pro-Sisi MPs dominating most seats in the new assembly.

The 596-seat parliament includes 568 elected members: 448 who were elected on an individual basis and 120 through party lists. Sisi, meanwhile, will appoint the remaining 28 lawmakers.

“For the Love of Egypt”, a loyalist electoral alliance led by a former intelligence officer, won all 120 seats allocated to party lists in the two-phase election.

Following the polls, the pro-Sisi alliance has sought to draw other MPs in an effort to form a 400-member bloc to support government policies inside the assembly.

The move, however, has drawn rebukes from the Free Egyptians Party (FEP), the biggest party in the new assembly with 65 seats.

The party had described the new alliance as reminiscent of the now-defunct National Democratic Party (NDP) of former autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

As the rifts deepened, the FEP -- along with the Future of a Homeland Party (50 seats) and Al-Wafd Party (45 seats) -- withdrew from the alliance.

“This alliance is not going to last for long,” political analyst Hasan Nafaa told Anadolu Agency.

He said many political parties in parliament seek to vote “according to what it sees necessary.”

“It is illogical to impose a certain political formula or alliance on these parties,” Nafaa said.

- ‘Game’

Political analyst Saeed Sadeq, however, played down the impact of the rifts inside the pro-Sisi alliance on the parliamentary support for the Egyptian regime.

“All these differences are not going to be catastrophic,” he told Anadolu Agency. “It is nothing but a game to change the negative perception about the new parliament as many see it as a reproduction of the NDP.” 

Sadeq noted that all MPs in the new assembly are supportive of the Egyptian regime.

“Their differences will not mount to become effective [against the government],” he said, expecting Sisi to urge MPs to “close their ranks” during his speech to the new assembly.

The now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group – of which Morsi had been a leader – had dominated Egypt’s last parliament, which was dissolved in 2012.

Since Morsi’s overthrow, Egyptian authorities have waged a harsh crackdown on the Brotherhood, arresting thousands of the group’s leaders and supporters.