Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has denied barring Egyptians living abroad from voting in upcoming parliamentary elections.
In a message posted on its Facebook page on Thursday evening, the SCAF asserted that it trusts all Egyptians, inside and outside the country, and warned against rumors that threaten the unity of the Egyptian people.
A military source had told Al-Masry al-Youm on Wednesday that the final text of the new political rights law bars Egyptians living abroad from voting, given the logistical difficulties involved in managing a voting process that involves four million Egyptians living in 139 foreign countries.
In addition, giving Egyptians abroad the right to vote would distort the voters’ political will, since vote buying might lead to the manipulation of this voting bloc. This is especially the case because these Egyptian citizens live abroad and might not care about the identity of their representatives as much as Egyptians living in Egypt, according to the same source.
