Arab League mission observes irregularities during election silence

CAIRO – 1 April 2018: The Arab League Election Observation Mission observed some irregularities committed by the candidates’ campaigners during the period of election silence, stated Special Representative to Civil Society for the League of Arab States Secretary General Haifa Abu Ghazaleh in a press conference on Sunday.

The campaigners did not remove the banners of the candidates during the period of election silence, she noted. However, the mission stated the Egyptian expatriates’ voting went normally without observing any violations.

The mission consists of 80 observers from 19 countries in the Arab League. They visited a total of 1,577 polling stations nationwide. According to the National Election Authority, the number of the polling stations reached 13,706.

The mission also praised the logistical support provided by the National Election Authority. Furthermore, the mission recognized women’s participation in the electoral process; a total of 95 percent of the visited polling stations included female employees, Abu Ghazaleh continued.

The mission revealed that representatives of Sisi’s campaign were present in 75.5 percent of the visited polls, while Moussa’s representatives were recorded in just 3.3 percent of visited polls, Haifaa stated.

The mission’s report on the election process will be sent to African League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit, who then will refer it to the National Election Authority, Haifaa added.

According to the preliminary results, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi attained a landslide election victory against al-Ghad Party candidate Moussa Moustafa Moussa.

Initial figures showed that 21,088,295 voted for Sisi in polling stations across Egypt, excluding several stations in Cairo and Giza; Moussa on the other hand won 682,797 votes.