Egyptian Human Rights Organization praises atmosphere of presidential elections

The Egyptian Human Right Organization praised on Saturday the atmosphere in which the presidential elections were held on Wednesday and ended with the winning of President Hosni Mubarak.

At a news conference Hafez Abu-Se'da, the organization's chairman, said that despite some errors, not exceeding a margin of 15 percent, the results of the election were not affected, as the new president won by a clear majority.

He also praised the role played by the Egyptian security which did not intervene as the case was in previous referendums.

The so-called violations did not happen this time, he said, noting that no pressure was practiced inside balloting stations to influence voters.

The non-application of the emergency law over the past 19 days was noteworthy, Abu-Se'da said.

According to Abu-Se'da, his organization prepared a report outlining seven recommendations for developing the political process in Egypt.

One of them involves forming a national commission comprising representatives of all parties, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), amending the current Egyptian Constitution approved in 1971.

He called for amending the election system before the coming parliamentary elections, in a way that would allow election by the proportionate list system. According to the report, this would further reflect party representation.

The report also pressed for using glass balloting boxes and for allowing local observers to oversee the coming parliamentary elections.