CAIRO: American election monitoring organization The Carter Center on Tuesday could not say whether Egypt's recent presidential election was free and fair. The group, which had been in Egypt observing the voting process, said in a statement that they did not have enough access to polling station and voters. They also accused the military junta in the country of being a force against the transition to democracy in Egypt. The Carter Center said it had been unable to monitor the vote properly and that a “return of elements of martial law” meant it was “now unclear whether a truly democratic transition remains under way in Egypt.” Supporters of both presidential candidates – the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsy and former air force commander Ahmed Shafik – have claimed their candidate won last weekend's run-off. But official results are not expected until Thursday. “We cannot provide a comprehensive assessment of the integrity of the elections due to the limited nature of the mission,” the Carter Center's field office director, Sanne van den Bergh, told Reuters in a statement. The group complained of late accreditation to monitor the vote, limits on the amount of time it was allowed to stay in polling stations and said it was denied access to the central count. “The restrictions are contrary to the core principles of credible and effective election observation and the Carter Center will not witness future elections in such circumstances,” the group said in a statement. Beyond the election itself, the group said a court's decision to dissolve the Islamist-dominated parliament and a decree from the ruling military council limiting the future president's powers increased the risk that Egypt was not becoming the democracy that many had hoped for. “Ultimately, a truly democratic transition requires not just elections, but the full transfer of power to those elected civilian institutions,” the group said in a statement.
