UN Body Invites Election Committee to help Arab Nations Conduct Polls

by Rakhi Chakrabarty | Times of India




As Egypt prepares for a transition to democracy, United Nations Development Programme has invited Election Commission of India (ECI) for a meeting in Cairo. Discussions will be held to provide help to countries in the Arab region, including Egypt and Tunisia, in holding elections.

Mexico and South Africa are the other countries invited for the two-day meet that will be held on May 2-3. It is aimed at identifying capacity, knowledge gaps and support required by election management bodies of countries like Egypt and Tunisia.

Egypt and Tunisia are in transition after popular uprisings overthrew the totalitarian regimes. A similar trend has also come to fore in several countries in the region.

"They were keen to know about EVM and how it works. The functions and operation of EVM was demonstrated to them," said Akshay Rout, director-general of ECI.

Quraishi suggested Egypt should develop its own EVM. "We can help with technology and know-how," he said.  Besides, the Egyptians wanted to know about SMS, GIS and GPS used by ECI to track elections, and also about indelible ink.

"Egypt seems to have taken such a historic change with a great deal of maturity. They didn't seem to be in a flux or in too much confusion. Rather, they seem to be in a hurry to establish democracy," said Quraishi.



From CSID (Center for the Study of Islam and Development) 
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