The National Council for Human Rights (NHCR) called upon the Presidential Elections Commission to extend the voting period to allow all Egyptians to cast their votes.
NCHR Deputy Chairman Mohamed Fayek said that the council will convene with its members Tuesday to discuss procedures for monitoring the electoral process in a number of governorates.
Fayek met Monday with the former President of Seychelles Republic James Mancham, one of the African observers in the elections. During the meeting, Fayek showcased the monitoring chamber that will observe the elections and monitor complaints and violations.
Mancham said that the first step to democracy is to run the elections with absolute fairness and transparency. He applauded the NHCR’s coordination with Egyptian and international civil society organizations.
Egyptian and international organizations have intensified efforts to monitor the elections. Arab Election Watch (AEW) said that its team includes 72 monitors from 14 countries, including France and Italy.
AEW said in a statement Monday that it was among three other international organizations that will monitor the elections and that it has developed a form for evaluating the electoral process that includes 19 questions through which it can scientifically judge the fairness of the process, away from personal biases and inaccurate descriptions.
The Ibn Khaldun Center for Democratic Studies, which founded the Horranazeha (free and fair) Coalition, said that it has recently seen violence between supporters of various candidates, and alleged that one candidate has been using armed civilians for protection.
The Horranazeha Coalition demanded in a statement Monday an investigation into rumors that local constituencies and members of the defunct National Democratic Party support certain candidates, which it says could result in incidents of thuggery.
Based on these indications, the Horranazeha Coalition expressed its concern over the probability of violence during the election, worrying that security forces would not intervene in clashes.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
