Diop praises Egypt’s cooperation with AU election observers

CAIRO – 27 March 2018: Abdoulaye Diop, head of the African Union Election Observation Mission deployed to monitor the ongoing presidential election in Egypt, said that the Egyptian authorities have fully cooperated with the delegation, providing it with the licenses required to access all polling stations.

Diop, former Foreign Minister of Mali, told Egypt Today that citizens managed to cast their votes in a peaceful, secure and well-organized atmosphere. Diop said the delegation, which includes 40 observers spread throughout 12 governorates, did not yet spot any violations, adding that everything was in order.

Asked about Monday’s turnout, Diop said that a good participation rate was spotted in many polling stations. He added that the delegation can only judge the turnout after the end of the process on Wednesday.

“It’s the Mission’s goal to give an accurate and unbiased report on the election,” Diop said, adding, “It requires us to judge whether or not the way the election process had been handled complies with the Egyptian law, African Union ethics and internationally accepted standards.”

Diop said that the report would include any probable recommendations to improve future elections. “I hope we can publish our final report on the election by March 30,” he stated.

He expressed optimism over Egypt’s future beyond the election, saying that, “Egypt is great. It has experienced lots of challenges. However, the Egyptian people were smart enough to overcome such challenges.”

Egypt’s National Election Authority (NEA) has approved dozens of NGOs to observe and monitor the election, including the National Council of Human Rights, the National Women’s Council, the African Union, COMESA, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, the Arab League and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.

The presidential election between incumbent President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and al-Ghad Party Chairman Moussa Moustafa Moussa started on Monday.

Wednesday marks the third and final day of the voting process. The final results of the first round will be announced on April 2.