Description

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The 26 and 27 May 2014 presidential election
constitutes the second phase of the roadmap
decreed by Interim President Mansour on 8 July 2013, as part of the constitutional declaration.

While broad support for the roadmap is enduring, based on the widely shared belief
that stability should be a priority, opposition to the roadmap or to the environment in which it is implemented
has resulted in the non-participation
of some stakeholders.

This undermined universal participation in
the election.

While the new Constitution sets out a wide
-ranging catalogue of fundamental rights, the respect for these rights falls short of
these constitutional principles. Freedoms of association, assembly and expression are areas of concern,including in the context of this election.

It is to be seen whether measures will be taken by the newly elected authorities to
craft the legislation that will put the new constitution into legal practice.

The PEL does not provide for an appeal against
administrative decisions of the PEC and the
absence of the right of appeal appears to challenge Article 97 of the 2014 Constitution.

With limited space for dissenting voices
and activities of civil society organisations (CSO) often restricted or harassed, scattered protests by diverse groups continue.

Reports on the response of law enforcement authorities attest to the disproportionate use of force.

Acts of violence persist, often targeting law enforcement personnel, although election related violence was limited during the pre-
electoral period.

Two recent rulings in mass trials recommended the death penalty for hundreds of persons, in clear violation of international human rights law, raising serious concerns with regard to the respect for due process and the right to a fair trial.

The authorities hold the view that expressing
opinions on such cases would affect the independence of the judiciary.

Candidate Al Sisi’s tightly controlled public
profile and the limited resources of candidate
Sabahi’s campaign have impacted on the ability of both campaigns to reach out to voters.

In addition to public rallies, both candidates
engaged significantly on mass and social media and in public advertising.

The potential to achieve a level playing field
for the campaign was prejudiced by insufficient regulation of campaign finance.

There was evidence that third parties were contributing outside of the spending limits set by the PEC.

The dominant visibility of the poster campaign of candidate Al Sisi illustrated that
this lack of regulation operated in his favour.

The public media monitored gave approximately equal coverage to both candidates, but
private media provided candidate Al Sisi with more than twice the coverage provided to candidate Sabahi.

Stakeholders opposed to the roadmap received no media coverage. There was a general climate of limited freedom of expression, reportedly resulting also in self-censorship of journalists.

The imprisonment of four Al Jazeera journalists and the detention of others without charge contributed to fear of a perceived decline in freedom of the media
amongst journalists.

As an element of a transitional legal framework, the PEL offered an adequate
basis for the conduct of the presidential election, although it fell short of full compliance with applicable international standards for democratic elections in some respects. Notably, the right to vote and
the right to stand for all citizens
are not fully protected by the current legal framework.

The presidential election was administered by a three-tier election administration comprising the PEC, District Committees and 13,899 polling stations. Electoral logistics were run by the Ministry of Interior. Legal deadlines were met by both institutions.

The PEC accredited 80 domestic and six international CSO, and 5 intergovernmental
missions to observe the election.
While the PEC administered the election professionally and overall in line with the law, in the late afternoon on 27 May, it decided to extend voting for a third day,
contrary to earlier statements.

This unpredictable act of the PEC, while not
against the law, caused unnecessary uncertainty in the electoral process. Both candidates appealed against the extension and both appeals were expeditiously rejected.
Women have been severely underrepresented in public office, with just 1.8 per cent
women in the last parliament and less than one per cent female judges.

An estimated 5 million women were not included in the voter list and effectively disenfranchised due to their lack of identification documents.

The coverage of women was less than 2 per cent in all the media monitored
thus ignoring approximately half of the electorate.

Religious communities and ethnic minorities
are under-represented as well, with minimal redress in the Constitution for this imbalance.

The drafting of the new law on parliamentary elections could provide an adequate opportunity to address these concerns.

Election days proceeded in a peaceful and calm manner across the governorates overall.
Following three days of voting, the PEC
informed the EU EOM that voter turnout
was at 47.3 per cent at the time of writing. The voting and counting process was orderly and well organised in most of polling stations
and District Committees observed, with only minor procedural problems and a limited number
of violations noted by the EU EOM observers.