AU delegation impressed with participation of women in election

CAIRO – 31 March 2018: The head of the African Union Election Observation Mission, Abdallah Diop, stated that the intensive participation of Egyptian women in the election is a strong message for African women on the positive role of women.

Diop stressed that all political parties in Egypt shall work and cooperate in order to represent positively in the democratic process. He also added that the mission noticed that all citizens are allowed to vote in the presidential elections, adding that access to polling stations was smooth and easy.

He stated that voting in the elections was legal and the mission did not observe any violations during the voting period.

He added that all electoral committees visited by the mission were organized to facilitate the entry of voters and allow their flow, stressing that the delegation did not detect the existence of any manipulation or fraud in the committees he visited.

The former African Foreign Minister pointed out that the African Union mission, which participated in monitoring the elections, consists of 40 members from the majority of the countries of the continent, adding that the elections were monitored in 10 Egyptian governorates.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdy Sanad Loza said that the following five regional and international organizations will participate in observing the presidential election nationwide: the Arab League (AL), African Union (AU), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly and COMESA-CENSAD.

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 gathered 682,797 votes.