Statement by Egypt's Minister of Information Anas El-Fekky on the 2010 People's Assembly Election

CAIRO, Nov. 28, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

• Today's elections pave the way for any political party that wins one seat in Parliament to contest next year's Presidential elections.
• Parliament with significantly enhanced Constitutional authority to be elected.
• Egypt's reformed electoral administration ensures fully independent supervision of the electoral process.
• The Government will fully support the HEC in its investigation of any breaches of the electoral law.
• Limited instances of violence; No election-related deaths

Today nearly 41,000,000 registered voters were called to elect their representatives for the 508 seats comprising the People's Assembly, Egypt's main legislative body, including for the first time 64 seats reserved for women.

This year's election is particularly significant because it is the first to take place following the major Constitutional amendments enacted in 2007. These amendments allow any political party to contest presidential elections provided that it wins a minimum of one seat in either chamber of Parliament. In light of these provisions, all 19 political parties competing in today's election have the opportunity to put forward a candidate for next year's presidential elections provided they win at least one seat in parliament.

Furthermore, this election will be for a Parliament with significantly enhanced constitutional authority. The People's Assembly now has the power to confirm and dismiss the Government put forward by the President, as well as the power to revise the national budget presented by the Government.

Today's election took place under Egypt's reformed electoral administration system. This ensures fully independent supervision of the electoral process including voter registration, candidate registration, campaigning, ballot casting, vote counting and certification of results.

• The elections are held under the supervision of the independent, judiciary-led High Elections Commission (HEC) led ex-officio by the President of the Cairo Court of Appeals, and the President of the Alexandria Court of Appeals.
• All-judge District Committees chosen independently by the HEC monitor the campaign period, and supervise the electoral process and polling stations in each of the electoral districts.
• Polling Committees chosen independently by the HEC administer the balloting under the supervision of the District Committees and the HEC.

The electoral law and the decisions of the HEC have resulted in a high level of transparency during these elections. Candidates' representatives were present in every polling station and vote-counting committee. Over 6000 thousand independent observers, chosen by Egypt's diverse civil society organizations, equivalent to two thirds of the number of voting centers around the country, were accredited by the HEC to observe ballot casting and vote counting. Furthermore, thousands of representatives of the Egyptian and international media were accredited by the Commission to cover the electoral process, including inside polling stations and vote counting committees.

The Egyptian electoral process guarantees the right of all citizens to compete for public office.  5725 individuals applied to be candidates, including 397 women. Of these applicants, only 6% were not registered as they did not met the eligibility criteria outlined in the electoral law. All applicants were able to appeal these decisions before the judiciary, and the HEC respected all court decisions resulting from the appeals process.

The Campaign Period

Egyptian law guarantees the right of all candidates to campaign and compete freely. Candidates held public rallies throughout the country, and were provided a copy of the voter rolls so as to organize voter outreach campaigns. Candidates had full access to Egypt's public and private media which reaches the vast majority of the electorate. In addition, Egypt's public service broadcaster provided free and equal airtime and extensive and neutral coverage to all political parties and candidates.

While the campaign period was generally fair and extremely competitive, regrettably there were some serious challenges. These included: the use of violence by a number of candidates and their supporters; the illegal use of public property and houses of worship; spending by a number of candidates exceeded the campaign finance limits set by the law; and the use of religious slogans for political purposes, despite the fact that the misappropriation of religion in political competition is barred by the Constitution and the electoral law so as to preserve the civil nature of the political process.

Government and civil society organized an intensive information campaign about election procedures and the voting process. Millions of neutral and impartial voter guides were published in 15 public and private newspapers, in addition to extensive advertisement on public and private television channels.

Election Day

Initial reports indicate that election day has been a success. The HEC stated in its mid-day statement: "On the whole the electoral process is proceeding in a orderly fashion."

Nonetheless, the HEC has also reported a number of violations and difficulties, the most serious of which was the use of violence between competing candidates in a limited number of districts. In these individual cases, police services acted quickly to protect voters, by-standers and the electoral process. Though these events resulted in a limited number of casualties, there were no election-related deaths. Nevertheless, the Government of Egypt affirms its determination to bring the perpetrators to account.

In addition, the HEC has received reports of serious breaches of the electoral law in a number of districts, and responded decisively by invalidating a number of ballot boxes in those districts. There were also a number of cases where civil society observers and media were unreasonably denied access to polling stations. However, the HEC was able to intervene to allow NGOs and media to observe and cover the balloting process.

The Government of Egypt fully supports the HEC in these and any other actions it deems necessary to protect the integrity of the electoral process. While we await the final report of the Commission after its investigation of these incidents, the Government is confident that they have not affected the overall conduct and integrity of the elections.

Finally, the Government of Egypt commits itself to work with the elected members of parliament for the prosperity and welfare of the nation.

SOURCE Egypt's Minister of Information