Al-Ahram Weekly monitored international reaction to Egypt's first post-revolution parliamentary election Western governments expressed support for the Egyptian elections, seeing them as an important step towards democracy and civilian rule. US Ambassador to Cairo Anne Patterson congratulated Egypt on the unexpected big turnout in the first stage of the parliamentary election. "I'd like to congratulate the Egyptian people on what appeared to be a very large turnout on this very historic occasion," Patterson said in Cairo. While she underlined that the parliament was a choice of the Egyptian people, Patterson added that the US government would work with whoever the people of Egypt chose to represent them. On Monday, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner also described the early reports on the vote as "quite positive". The Barack Obama administration had issued a statement on Friday urging Egypt's ruling military council to speed up the transition to civilian rule, as angry protesters reiterated their impatience for change in Tahrir Square. Britain also praised the elections. British Ambassador to Cairo James Watt described the election as an important milestone in Egypt's democratic transition. In a statement to Reuters on Monday, Watt said that his staff who visited a number of polling stations, witnessed the election being held in a peaceful, orderly and good- natured manner. "These elections are only at their start, but so far, they seem to have run smoothly," he added. In a statement on Sunday before the voting began, British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Egyptian authorities to ensure a vote that was free from violence, fair and credible, adding that Egypt's election would reverberate across the region. Hague earlier expressed his concern over the way Egyptian authorities were dealing with the recent protests in Tahrir and across the country, signalling ongoing British support for the move to civilian rule in Egypt. The French Foreign Ministry also expressed similar sentiments, calling on the Egyptian authorities and all citizens to ensure that the election was held in peaceful conditions. The ministry expressed its support for a "rapid and orderly" transition "leading to a transfer of power to elected civilian authorities in the coming months." New Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Trevi expressed his commitment to supporting the democratic transition in Egypt and other North African countries, emphasising the importance of economic growth for the success of that transition. "We must act," said Trevi, "on the basis of respectful support to the march of the peoples of North Africa towards a society that is not just free and prosperous but also socially more equal." Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Trinidad Jimenez expressed her belief that elections were the first step towards democracy. However, she drew attention to protesters that were still in Tahrir Square. She said although Egypt was witnessing major developments by holding parliamentary elections, the protesters in Tahrir who oppose military rule were not satisfied. "I wish for all Egyptians to vote and choose a new parliament," the Spanish official said during a forum on the Arab Spring, organised by the International Institute for Democracy in the Spanish parliament. "Applying democracy in Egypt is not easy," she added. "All Egyptians must respect the results of the elections so that their country could achieve stability." Amnesty International (AI) said that the atmosphere in the elections was very different from the parliamentary elections in 2010. The organisation said it did not witness any human rights violations while monitoring Egypt's first day of elections on 28 November, according to Said El-Hadadi, head of the organisation's monitoring team. There were no acts of violence threatening the rights of voters during the electoral process, Hadadi said. The AI team had arrived in Egypt a few days earlier to monitor any human rights violations or incidents of violence in the elections. The team, which visited 25 polling stations, consisted of five observers from Britain, Norway, France, Jordan and Egypt, Hadadi added. Amnesty did not issue any report concerning the electoral process in Egypt because there were no clear abuses or violations. However, Hadadi said that if there were any developments of concern during the three stages of the electoral process, the organisation would issue one. The International Network Following Arab Elections issued a report on the Egyptian elections, praising the neutrality of the security and military forces during the process. It did point out electoral violations by certain political parties for electioneering in front of polling stations. The Freedom and Justice Party violated the ban issued by the Supreme Elections Committee on campaigning in front of polling stations, the report said. The report also covered the clashes between supporters of the Freedom and Justice Party and the Egyptian Bloc. The organisation obtained 67 licences from the Supreme Elections Committee to monitor the poll. The organisation has monitored elections in Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Iraq and Yemen.
