Loza meets CEN-SAD team set to observe 2018 election

CAIRO – 26 March 2018: Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdy Sanad Loza met Sunday with the Community of Sahel-Saharan States’ (CEN-SAD) team set to observe the Egyptian 2018 Presidential Election that starts on Monday.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the (CEN-SAD) announced on Friday that they will deploy a joint mission at 10 Egyptian governorates to observe the three-day voting period in the presidential election which begins on Monday.

The CEN-SAD team consists of 18 individuals from many African countries, in addition to CEN-SAD officials.

The CEN-SAD has initiated several cooperation agreements with international and regional organizations in political and cultural fields.

Loza said that he met with the head of the COMESA mission, Hope Kivengere, who arrived in Cairo on Thursday, adding that Egypt considers the African observation of the polls as a kind of solidarity with the Egyptian people.

Loza said on Thursday that five regional and international organizations will participate in observing the presidential election nationwide. These organizations are the Arab League (AL), African Union (AU), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly in addition to COMESA-CEN-SAD.

Voting in the 2018 presidential election in Egypt will commence on March 26, as was announced by the NEA on January 8, and will last until March 28. Sixty million eligible voters will be able to cast their ballots in the election during this time, while expatriates already voted between March 16 and 18.