CAIRO – 14 December 2023: Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe, the head of the joint mission of the African Union and COMESA and Vice President Emeritus of Uganda, expressed satisfaction with the 2024 Presidential Elections held inside the country from December 10-12.
She hailed the huge participation of youth and women in the elections as she spoke to the Egyptian state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) during a press conference in Cairo held by the joint mission on Thursday.
“The mission has observed a high turnout of women in many polling stations, as well as enthusiastic participation from young people exercising their constitutional right to vote,” she stated, considering this participation a crucial step in building Egyptian institutions.
Head of @_AfricanUnion-@COMESA_GPS joint EOM, Dr @SpeciosaW & Amb. John O. Kakonge, accompanied by Amb. @Bankole_Adeoye, had a 📊debriefing session with the 70 observers who just got back from their respective assigned governorates where they observed the #EgyptElection 🇪🇬🗳👀 pic.twitter.com/SSR3nJTKNa
— African Union Political Affairs Peace and Security (@AUC_PAPS) December 13, 2023
She emphasized that citizens have lived up to responsibility of the democratic process, commending the measures taken in several locations to establish separate polling stations for women.
She also highlighted the keenness of many women and men to bring their children while casting their votes. She further noted that the Egyptian government has given special attention to enabling people with disabilities to exercise their right to vote, hailing this as a positive step.
Wandira Kazibwe said the joint mission has observed people freely voting during the elections, commending also the efforts of the Egyptian security forces in ensuring the security of the electoral process.
“We applaud the National Election Authority and the security forces for the success of the electoral process,” she stated.
🇪🇬🗳️👀#EgyptElection2023 concludes
— African Union Political Affairs Peace and Security (@AUC_PAPS) December 12, 2023
Head of the joint AU-COMESA Election Observation Mission, Dr @SpeciosaW observed counting of votes at a polling station in Cairo, 12/12/23
🔴UPCOMING: Press briefing on the findings
🗓 14Dec2023,11:00am CairoTime
📍Royal Maxim Kempinski hotel pic.twitter.com/245DdJN3vO
Millions of Egyptians cast their ballots from 10-12 December in thousands of polling stations nationwide to choose their leaders for the next six years.
Four candidates are competing in the elections; incumbent President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party Farid Zahran, President of Al Wafd Party Abdel-Sanad Yamama, and President of the Republican People's Party Hazem Omar.
Ballot sorting at many polling stations has revealed that Sisi is leading the polls, while candidates Zahran and Omar are competing over the second place.
According to the NEA on Monday, the second day of elections, almost half of the electorate voted in the elections. The number of eligible voters across Egypt totaled 67 million.
The 2024 presidential election is the fifth multi-party presidential elections that the country has witnessed in its modern history.
The 2024 elections gain their importance from being a major step in the country’s path towards democratic transformation, party pluralism and political competitiveness.
The election is held a year and a half since the launch of the National Dialogue, which included all components Egyptian political, union and civil society.
The elections for citizens inside the country took place a few days after the three-day voting process for Egyptians abroad was concluded early in December.
The final result will be announced on December 18 if no run-off is required.
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