CAIRO: Political parties and parliamentary candidates lauded the smooth voting process in the elections’ first phase, that quelled expectations of thuggery and violence.
Some voters headed to the polls bracing themselves for violence given the security vacuum that followed the Jan. 25 uprising and the mounting reports of thuggery that came in tow.
However, the Supreme Council of the Armed forces (SCAF) managed to maintain tight security around polling stations in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior.
While some reports of violations emerged, there were none about any violence.
Tarek Al-Malt, spokesperson of Al-Wasat Party, said that they didn’t engage in any clashes with other candidates or parties during the first round of elections. “All went smoothly and none of our candidates faced any complications or arguments.”
“However, there were a lot of violations regarding the campaigning,” he said, adding that many parties and candidates were campaigning outside the polling stations and directing the voters.
There were reports of clashes between supporters of the Freedom and Justice and the Salafi Al-Nour parties in Kafr El-Sheikh, however they were denied by a police officer to state news. Spokesperson of Al-Nour, Youssry Hamad, also denied the news.
“It was a new experience and everyone wanted to prove themselves but the security and discipline were good in general,” he said.
“The propaganda during elections were only in individual cases, some parties filed complaints and at the same time were promoting for themselves,” Hamad added.
Even though a few arguments between parties have occurred, none were major that they were reported. Nabil Zakil, from Al-Tagammu Party, said there were some altercations between candidates, which were mostly on administrative procedures, noting that this is “normal.”
The Egyptian Coalition for Electoral Observation in its report on the second day of elections said that it witnessed clashes among groups of women supporting the Freedom and Justice Party and others from Al-Nour in front of the polling stations in Damietta, where army officers intervened and ended the clashes.
In Port Said, candidate Ahmed Soliman’s wife engaged in arguments with the polling station employees who were allegedly promoting the Freedom and Justice Party at the polling station in Port Foad Youth Center, according to the report.
Essam Al-Erian, from the Freedom and Justice Party, said that clashes were mainly prompted by the enthusiasm of the supporters and to attract people to participate in the elections.
With no cases of reported violence in the elections, many people speculated that the security vacuum was more of an intentional political decision.
“It is astonishing that despite all the propaganda around the security vacuum yet people went to vote and there wasn’t any violence whatsoever,” said political analyst, Amr Hashem, from Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
“The high turnout of voters along with the high number of candidates ensured the safety of the elections as there wasn’t any opportunity for anyone to be violent,” he added, pointing out that the altercations and violence usually occurred between supporters of certain candidates but that this elections brought together over 100 candidates. –Additional reporting by Heba Hesham
