CAIRO: Former American President Jimmy Carter praised Egypt's election process and dismissed concerns over the success of Islamist parties in the first post-Hosni Mubarak elections in the country. He said it represents the will of the Egyptian people, despite low voter turnout and hundreds of reports of minor violations, including candidates and party officials attempting to campaign inside voting stations. Carter's Atlanta-based Carter Center has sent 40 observers to monitor Egypt's staggered parliamentary elections since voting started in late November. Carter said his organization was “very pleased” with the conduct of the elections so far. “There have been some problems in general, but the will of the people has been expressed accurately,” Carter told reporters at polling station in a girls school in the Cairo neighborhood of Rod al-Farag. Not everyone was convinced at Carter's statements however, including Mariam Yussif, who was at the polling station on Tuesday. She told Bikyamasr.com that it is easy to miss interpret the elections because Carter “does not really understand Egypt and our society. “What he really needs to do is look at how the lead-up to the elections were, what was happening and how that created an unfair election,” she argued. Many activists have also voiced her concerns, saying the ongoing military violence in November and early December created a situation where people were burying and caring for loved ones injured or killed in violent battles with police and military, instead of heading to the polls to vote. The Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the ultra-conservative al-Nour Party have won a combined 60 percent of seats in the new parliament, which will be tasked to ink a new constitution. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/wT5ng Tags: Elections, featured, Jimmy Carter Section: Egypt, Latest News
