By Essam Fadl
CAIRO: A European delegation arrived to Cairo early Sunday to unofficially oversee Egypt’s parliamentary elections as they went on field visits to rights organizations, sources in human rights groups told Daily News Egypt.
Member of the Euro-Mediterranean Network Moataz Al-Fogairy told Daily News Egypt that he came to Cairo with the network’s delegation headed by Marc Schade Poulsen to prepare a report about the elections.
He added that according to the international standards of transparent elections, the conditions of Egyptian elections are not promising, after the government refused to allow the EU to oversee it and turned down similar requests by rights organizations. He said the government also ignored court verdicts to halt elections in many constituencies.
“The Ministry of Interior is moderating the elections process, while the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) is just watching,” said Al-Fogairy.
Head of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies Bahey-Eldin Hassan told Daily News Egypt that Egyptian and international rights organizations, including the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, Human Rights Watch, and Euro-Mediterranean Network, will hold a press conference on Monday at the Hisham Mubarak Law Center headquarters to present their primary evaluation of the elections process.
Media coordinator of Euro-Mediterranean Network Shaimaa Abo El-Khair told Daily News Egypt that the network’s delegation visited the headquarters of the National Council for Human Rights earlier on Sunday to see how complaints are received and dealt with, adding that the delegation went on field visits to some constituencies.
Executive Manager of Hukuk.com and political activist Sameh Said told Daily News Egypt that his website that streams live coverage of the elections will interview Poulsen on his views on the elections and the EU’s support to civil society organizations overseeing elections.
