Will monitoring campaigns by local and foreign observers be enough to guarantee the credibility of the presidential poll, wonders Gihan Shahine Restrictive rules set by the Presidential Elections Commission (PEC) on local and foreign monitors have, thus far, hardly impeded observers from watching Egypt's historic presidential polls which kicked off yesterday. Monitors said they were treated with respect and that they hardly spotted an irregularity during their work. "The polls have, so far, defeated all prior fears; they are perhaps the best in Egypt's history," human rights activist Negad El-Boraai told Al-Ahram Weekly yesterday. "No major irregularity was spotted so far," concurred human rights activist Mohamed Zarie while watching the elections in the governorate of Menoufiya yesterday. "The polling process is very smooth and transparent to moment and it is the first time in Egypt's history that violations are almost not there." Zarie said he spotted no campaigning in front of polling stations, as was the case in the recent parliamentary polls, no polling delays, and no violence in front of polling station. Hatem Bagato, secretary-general of the PEC, announced that three foreign and 49 local organisations are monitoring the presidential poll which kicked off yesterday. They are supplemented by a number of independent popular initiatives, working without official authorisation, which are employing volunteers to oversee the polling process and report any violations they witness. According to PEC figures, 14,500 judges and 65,000 civil servants are involved in supervising the two-day vote. The non-profit Carter Centre, founded by former president Jimmy Carter to promote peace, democracy and public health, is one of three foreign groups licensed by PEC to monitor the presidential vote. It is joined by the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa and a network of Arab election monitors. The Carter centre is deploying 22 international election witnesses, drawn from 14 countries, alongside its 80 strong delegation, led by Jimmy Carter, which arrived to Egypt just a few days ago. Foreign monitors, according to a Carter Centre press release, are meeting with "election officials, political party and civil society representatives, members of the international community and other stakeholders." Only a few hours before the poll started, there were suspicions that the presence of monitors was unlikely to allay growing fears among some forces that the poll would be rigged. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has repeatedly insisted that the vote will be transparent though the SCAF-appointed commission mandated to oversee the election -- its decisions on all matters are final -- has placed severe restrictions on the activities of independent monitors whose role in giving the vote a clean bill of health could be crucial in defusing any post-election squabbles. The Carter Centre had earlier expressed disappointment that "due to the late accreditation of witnesses for this historic election, as well as a lack of clarity on witnessing organisations' ability to speak publicly, this election witnessing mission is limited in scope". Many local and foreign observers were concerned that the way in which PEC is impeding their work means they would be unable to give a final say on whether the election results are credible. Sanne Van Den Bergh, the Carter Centre's field office director, said international observers received the documents they needed to start work only last week. "Even three weeks ago would have been late," Van Den Berg told Reuters. "Normally we witness candidate nominations, voter registration, certainly the campaign period. We cannot comment on the entire process if we miss those aspects." Local and foreign monitors also reported delays in receiving the passes required for them to observe presidential campaigns and which they need to display in order to be able to interview voters. Many human rights activists had earlier expressed reservations that SCAF wanted to curb the flow of information. Monitors have complained that the regulations set by PEC are more restrictive than those employed by the Mubarak regime in the days of the notoriously fraudulent 2005 poll. Last week PEC announced that monitors would not be allowed into polling stations during the balloting process for longer than 30 minutes, though even this could be reduced in cases of overcrowding and at the discretion of the supervising judge. Officially-licensed monitors are also banned from making public statements or talking to the media until the results are announced. PEC has also insisted monitoring groups include its official response to any of their findings in their final reports. The restrictions imposed by PEC, said Van Den Bergh, contradict international principles for election monitoring "which Egypt's government approved at the United Nations". She was particularly critical of the ban on monitors making public statements until the results are announced. "In any election observer mission you give statements about things that can still be improved during the process," she said. "If you cannot comment until afterwards it defeats the purpose." Van den Bergh was equally disappointed at the time limit placed on monitors' access to polling stations. "This is a combination of restrictions that we have never faced before. It means we cannot draw conclusions on the overall process," she insisted. At least eight human rights organisations have refused to officially observe the polls in protest at PEC's regulations. Though they have refused PEC licences they say they are working unofficially. Zarie is one. "We refused to play the role of extras," he said. "The rules are very restrictive and turn monitoring into a 'cosmetic' process that only adds legitimacy to the polling. Observing the polls outside the official channel of the PEC was a good idea, after all." Hafez Abu Seada, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), however, decided to take the challenge. He said that EOHR's monitors are already trained and experienced enough to overcome whatever obstacles are placed in their path. Since yesterday, EOHR monitors have been trying to spot potential irregularities like vote buying, a common practices in previous Egyptian elections, while according to Abu Seada EOHR relies on the "testimonies of candidate representatives and the voting masses" to expose any fraudulent activity within voting stations. Oyoun Masr (Egypt's eyes) is one of several popular initiatives recently launched, employing thousands of volunteers at polling stations. Spearheaded by the 6 April Youth Movement, it relies mainly on citizens' testimonies and intends to publish photos and videos on the Internet of any irregularities caught on mobile phones. Group member Injy Hamdi says 6 April Movement has trained volunteers nationwide on how to monitor elections. Volunteers are present at polling stations nationwide to document incidents of "vote-buying, illegal campaigning, religious propaganda, polling station closures and violence". Shayfenko (We are watching you) was re-launched last week by media presenter Bothaina Kamel, in cooperation with several human rights organisations. It is, Kamel said during a press conference at the Press Syndicate last week, about observing the whole electoral process independently. "We decided to operate outside PEC rules which are unfair and encourage fraud," Kamel said. Shayfenko was originally formed to monitor the 2005 poll. Islamists are launching their own monitoring campaigns. Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya's Tarek El-Zomor earlier revealed the group had drawn up a plan, in cooperation with other political parties, to mobilise the public not only to participate in the voting process but also to protect polling stations and ballot boxes.
