CAIRO: A recent World Public Opinion survey suggests that 63 percent of Egyptians believe their country would benefit from the presence of international observers to monitor elections. The findings place Egypt and many other countries around the world as being sympathetic with the proposal, while only a few developed western democracies, Britain, the US and France, oppose the Idea. Yet even in these few circumstances the margins are small. Views are also divided in Russia and Turkey, while India (51 percent) believes monitors would not help in their elections. The findings carry greater impact given the recent turbulence following the Iranian elections and the accusations of vote tampering in Afghanistan. The survey, conducted by World Public Opinion, a collaborative project managed by the Program of International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, asked inhabitants of 17 countries whether they believed international observers would benefit elections in their own country. The study also polled peoples' views pertaining to other countries, regarding the need for UN observers when there are concerns of fairness at elections. Most striking is the amount of people who believe their countries would benefit from international election monitors, with the average country being in favor in the region of two-to-one. Countries such as Kenya and Nigeria showed the most support for the plan, with majorities of 85 percent and 74 percent, respectively. Given the events, which occurred prior to and following Egypt s 2005 election, culminating in the arrest and conviction of presidential runner-up, Ayman Nour, it is no surprise, perhaps, that so many Egyptians approve of international election monitors. The imprisonment of Nour caused global furor and even prompted the White House press secretary to release a statement voicing the United States concerns. Coincidently, the Kefaya Movement for Change co-founder and assistant coordinator, George Ishaq, recently launched his campaign titled My Voice, My Demand. The campaign calls for, among other proposed reforms, international observers during local elections to guarantee a fair process. Gamal Eid, executive director for the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, strongly supports the proposal for UN observers at elections in Egypt and continues to work towards that goal, stating "it is a good step forward with regards to holding free and fair elections in Egypt. Egypt also fell in line with many of the other countries in relation to their views on other countries with troubled elections, with an impressive world average of 65 percent of those surveyed agreeing that other countries should be willing to host monitors when there are doubts over fairness. Yet the question still remains on the extent of benefits that international observers can offer. With details slowly emerging from the Afghan election, where over 400 international monitors were present and credentials were issued for 250,000 local monitors, it is apparent that monitors alone are not the sole solution to ensuring free and fair elections.
