CAIRO – 28 March 2018: Several national and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) monitoring the election confirmed that the electoral process in Egypt has met international standards.
Egyptian voters are not only exercising their constitutional right to partake in the electoral process, but they are also doing so with reasonability and accountability, Dalia Ziada, president of the Liberal Democracy Institute, said Wednesday.
Given that the Liberal Democracy Institute is one of the NGOs permitted by the National Election Authority (NEA) to monitor the electoral process, Ziada said that there were no major problems or violations observed by the institute, except for some minor issues related to the voting of people whose current addresses were different than those stated in their national IDs.
She further illustrated that those problems emerged as there were no sufficient media campaigns available to address such issues.
In her interview with the TV satellite channel ON Live on Wednesday, Ziada contended that Egyptians’ participation in the presidential election is a deterrent to terrorism and to countries that sponsor it.
Moreover, Riyadh Issa, president of the Nazaha (Integrity) Organization, which has a lot of experience under its belt in observing international elections, said the standards set by the NEA concerning the electoral process match international standards.
In his interview with ON Live on Wednesday, Issa said the organization observed some minor violations, which will be briefed to the media in the organization’s forthcoming report.
There were some electoral silence breaches observed and other violations committed in some polling stations where electoral propaganda for candidates was observed, Issa added.
The role of the organization goes beyond issuing reports assessing political life in Egypt, Issa stressed.
The organization’s role is to ensure that electoral laws and regulations adhere to international standards, and of ensuring the integrity and credibility of the electoral process, along with assessing the candidates’ registration and the fairness of the electoral campaigning. This is in addition to monitoring the whole electoral process through all its phases.
He concluded by emphasizing that there is no need to impose fines on boycotters, as a remarkably high turnout was recorded.
Ayman Okail, spokesman for Nazaha, said the coalition consists of 560 local and 35 international observers who work according to agreed-upon criteria for free and fair elections.
"If there is anything illegal in the election, we will issue reports," Okail said during his interview with Sabah On, which aired on ON Live on Sunday.
The three-day Egyptian presidential election commenced on Monday as polling stations started to welcome voters at 9 a.m. (CLT), and the voting proceeded until 9 p.m. (CLT) Wednesday.
According to the NEA, 18,000 judges are observing the vote, with nearly 110,000 election officials deployed to ensure that voting procedures are properly followed.
A total of 54 local organizations, nine international organizations and 680 foreign correspondents received permits to observe the electoral process in Egypt.
The winning presidential candidate is due to swear in next June.
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