Following an invitation from authorities in the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Her Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has approved the deployment of forty (40) short-term election observers to the upcoming Parliamentary elections in Egypt scheduled to take place in two phases: from 18-19 October and 22-23 November 2015.
The deployment of African Union (AU) election observers to Egypt is in line with the mandate of the African Union Commission as enshrined in relevant AU instruments such as the 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the 2002 AU/OAU Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, and the 2002 AU Guidelines on Election Observation and Monitoring Mission — all of which request the Commission to be fully engaged in the promotion and strengthening of democracy and democratic governance in Africa, particularly by observing and monitoring elections in African Union Member States.
The AU Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) to Egypt will be led by His Excellency Professor Amos Sawyer, former Interim President of the Republic of Liberia. The Mission will be deployed from 9 October to 30 October 2015 to cover the preparations and conduct of First Round elections. At the conclusion of First Round voting on 18-19 October, the Mission will issue a preliminary statement on its findings and observations. The AU will deploy an Expert Mission to follow up on the Second Round elections scheduled on 22-23 November 2015. The findings of both missions will be used to issue a Final
