CAIRO: Six foreign organizations have been approved to observe the parliamentary elections anticipated in late 2015; 768 foreign reporters have been permitted to cover the polling, according to a Sunday statement by the High Elections Committee (HEC.)
A total of 81 local organizations have also been approved to observe the elections, while 44 press institutions and 13 news websites will be allowed to report on the survey on the ground.
The Carter Center did not observe casting votes during the presidential elections in May 2014, instead monitoring the atmosphere of the poll and campaigning, and closed its branch in Egypt in October the same year due to “polarizing political environment.”
Egypt has not had a parliament since June 2012, after the Islamist-dominated People’s Assembly was dissolved per a court order about six months after its election.
The parliamentary elections, the final step in the roadmap announced by then-Minister of Defense Sisi in July 2013, were scheduled for March 2015, but were delayed to the unconstitutionality of some articles of the elections law.