Election’s special security measures

CAIRO – 24 March 2018: The Interior Ministry has announced a high alert across the country in view of the upcoming presidential election from March 26 until 28.

In his interview with Al-Ahram newspaper, Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar said that serious attention has been paid to the election security plan and thereby a state of emergency has been announced in all governorates of Egypt to ensure that security measures are already put in place at the 11,000 polling centers to facilitate the masses.

During the interview, the minister told Egypt’s citizens that their country is going through a tough war against terrorism. He stressed that confronting such evil requires all segments and parts of the country to integrate and join forces to preserve the nation's resources.

A security source in the Interior Ministry disclosed that all holidays and vacations were canceled for security personnel and officers until the electoral process is over.

The minister also stressed that he himself is supervising the election’s security plan and is constantly contacting his aids to ensure that all security measures are heightened in the face any potential terrorist attack that may occur to disrupt the “democratic festival”.

Also, regular patrols are ordered to be beefed up around the polling centers and facilities.

The election’s security plan is divided into three parts: the first one includes securing polling stations and judges monitoring the elections, while the second is about ensuring that the security measures are in place until the end of the vote counting process, the security source said, further stating that the third phase is about securing all state vital institutions, archeological sites and all main streets during the election and the period after electing the president.

Two hundred thousand officers were announced to be mobilized to secure the electoral process.

Meanwhile, accredited international and local civic organizations have embarked on pre-election monitoring measures by training their observers on Egypt’s electoral system, in accordance with the regulations set by the National Election Authority (NEA). The elections are due to be held in one week, from March 26 to March 28.

On January 25, Al-Ghad Party Chairman Moussa Moustafa Moussa announced that he would run for president. He eventually managed to collect the required endorsements from 20 members of Parliament, the majority of whom represent Menoufia governorate.

President Abdel Fatah Al Sisi and Moussa Moustafa Mossua are the only candidates approved to run the election. The voting process officially commences for Egyptians residing inside the country.