Head of Egypt's High Elections Commission (HEC) Al-Sayed Abdel Aziz has said definitively that there would be "no monitoring" of Sunday's parliamentary elections, stressing that the role of civil society and human rights organizations would be limited to "following" the elections rather than "monitoring" them.
Abdel Aziz went on to explain that electoral monitoring allowed for the questioning of polling station heads on matters related to the electoral process–a practice, he stressed, that would not be happening in next week's elections.
“What will take place are 'follow ups,' which will include brief visits to polling stations and observing events,” he said.
Abdel Aziz went on to say that the HEC had already prepared the permits to be issued to the civil society organizations mandated with following the elections.
When asked about the role of the media during elections, he said that "absolutely no videotaping or photography" would be allowed.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
