REPORT: EU observers label Egypt elections “free but not necessarily...

4^min

A European Union observer mission says Egypt's presidential elections were free, but expresses concern about media bias that favored the candidate who has apparently won in a landslide, Abdel-Fatttah al-Sisi.

The former Egyptian army chief easily won the presidential election according to preliminary counts, but observers say a low voter turnout may prevent him from claiming a broad mandate to fix the economy and end the country's political turmoil and civil strife.

Sisi won 93.3 percent of votes cast, judicial sources said, with most ballots counted after three days of voting. His only rival, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, gained 3 percent while 3.7 percent of votes were declared void.

The head of EU Parliament's Delegation, Robert Goebbels, said that Sisi obviously had more backing than Sabahi.

“I have to say as a man who went to many elections, that what I was able to observe were elections that were democratic, peaceful, free, but not necessarily always fair,” Goebbels said.

The EU mission also said that it had strong concerns about limits on freedom of association and expression which negatively affected the climate in which the election was conducted.

“As the new institutional framework of Egypt comes into place, we are concerned about the limited political and media space which characterized these elections and a climate that was not conducive to universal participation, pluralism and tolerance” Goebbels added.

Sisi ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 after mass protests against Egypt's first freely elected leader. Since then he has gained broad popularity amongst sectors of the public who had opposed the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi's main backers, and amongst many ordinary Egyptians who hope he can bring stability after years of unrest.

Critics of the post-Morsi political transition accuse the interim government of stifling its critics and limiting freedoms.

The security services have sought to crush the Muslim Brotherhood, killing over 1,500 protesters and imprisoning tens of thousands.

The EU praised the Egyptians government's conduct of the voting, saying that they had encountered few serious violations or noticeable fraud.

Turnout in the elections was about 46 percent of Egypt's 54 million voters, the government has said.

The official election results are due to be announced on June 3 or 4.

The stock market, which fell 2.3 percent on Wednesday as some players said the turnout was a disappointment, was down a further 0.9 percent by late morning on Thursday. On the black market, the Egyptian pound weakened slightly.

Mohamed El Sewedy, chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said, however: "The business community is very happy about the results. My friends and I have a lot of hope."

"Everybody just wants some form of stability against which you can decide what to invest. When there's stability it makes risk assessment much easier," said Angus Blair, chairman of business and economic forecasting think-tank Signet.

Most Egyptian newspapers celebrated the result, with state-run Al-Akhbar calling it "a day of hope for all Egyptians".

Fireworks erupted in Cairo to celebrate Sisi's victory late on Wednesday. His supporters waved Egyptian flags and sounded car horns as celebrations lasted through the early hours of the morning.

About 1,000 people gathered in Tahrir Square, the symbolic heart of the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak in 2011 and raised hopes of a democracy free of influence from the military.

As Egyptians traveled to work, there were only a handful of Sisi supporters left in Tahrir.

Critics fear Sisi will become another autocrat who will preserve the army's interests and quash hopes of democracy and reform.

REUTERS/AP

To watch Nicole Hajal's report, please click on the video above.