Egypt has dismissed the United Nations’ claims of intimidation in the run up to the presidential elections slated for later this month.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Wednesday said there was a “pervasive climate of intimidation” in the North African country ahead of the vote, marked by arrests, “silencing” of independent media and torture in detention.
Ahead of the election, many aspiring candidates were arrested and detained after declaring their intentions to run against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Ultimately, only one candidate managed to lodge his candidature, but is not regarded as a threat to el-Sisi’s re-election.
Egypt’s foreign ministry however dismissed Al Hussein’s remarks as unfounded and misleading.
“The foreign ministry calls on the high commissioner for human rights to stop attacking the Egyptian state without any right, and to instead adopt a professional and objective approach, and pay attention to the progress achieved in the field of democratisation,” a statement from the ministry read in part.
The North African country’s presidential election will take place on March 26-28, with a runoff to be held from April 24-26 if needed.
According to the national election commission, the results would be announced on 2 April, but in the event of a runoff if no candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote, the results would be announced on 1 May.
