International Monitors Allowed in Egyptian Presidential Election
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Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images(CAIRO) — Egypt’s presidential elections are going off as planned on May 23 and May 24 and with them, international monitors to report any voting irregularities.
This means Egyptians will finally get the chance to chose a successor to former President Hosni Mubarak, who ruled the country in authoritarian fashion for 30 years until he was ousted by a people’s revolution in February 2011.
Since that time, a military council has run the government in Egypt, all the while guaranteeing that Egyptians would get their chance to participate in free and fair elections.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday that the Obama administration was pleased with the decision to allow international monitors although there would be no U.S. delegation present.
Amr Moussa, a one-time Arab League chief, and Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, are considered frontrunners in next week’s election.
A runoff vote will be held on June 16 and 17 in the event that no single candidate wins an outright majority, with Egypt’s next president formally named four days later.
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