The United States has said that it is to early to judge whether the current parliamentary elections in Egypt are fair and free.
“The elections have really just begun. We haven't even seen the conclusion of the first stage, so we continue to watch with interest. We wish the Egyptians success, but it is too early for us to start drawing conclusions about it,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher at the daily press briefing on Monday, of which Albawba.com has received an e-mail copy.
However, Boucher said there have been “minor procedural complaints,” in the current process, whereas the US has in the past criticized discrepancies in the polls.
“In some cases where there is egregious and obvious examples of things being done beforehand, then, yes, we have criticized it,” he said.
The elections are conducted in three stages as a result of new law, that came in response to a supreme court ruling, which requires the process be under the observation of the judiciary, and that all governorates to ensure against fraud. As the number of judges is not enough to do all the governorates at once, there is a three-stage process. The first stage was conducted earlier this week for nine governorates. This yielded 29 clear winners on the first ballot, while 171 seats are to be decided in a runoff.
The second round of elections will be on 29th, and the third stage will be on
November 8th – Albawaba.com
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