State Information Service (SIS) issued its first report on its monitoring of what foreign media publishes about the presidential elections.
Diaa Rashwan, Chairman of the State Information Service (SIS), stated that the SIS's operations room followed up what was published by hundreds of media outlets in more than (10) international languages, and also followed up the activity of (528) accredited correspondents to cover the elections.
Rashwan pointed out that the most prominent aspects of this monitoring of day one of elections since opening of polling stations headquarters at 9:00 am on Sunday 10/12/2023 until closed at 9:00 pm, were as follows:
1- At the media level, there were no complaints from foreign media correspondents who toured the governorates, whether individually or within groups for which the SIS facilitated movement between committees and governorates.
2- None of the correspondents, observers, or followers of all nationalities spotted any violations related to the integrity of the elections or the regularity of the electoral process, whether inside or outside the committees.
3- The number of published materials doubled, especially in the American, European and Asian media, and the one media outlet published several successive reports throughout the day, as did American Channel ''Al-Hurra'', Chinese Agency ''Xinhua'', Turkish Agency ''Anadolu'' and others.
4- The negative feedback were limited to referring to the general economic climate and the difficulties facing Egyptians.
5- Many reports linked between the elections and Gaza events, indicating that the tension on the Egyptian border had a positive impact on the elections and the chances of candidate Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
6- There was almost consensus on monitoring a high turnout among voters at committees across the Republic.
The SIS report stated that the foreign media has followed up with great interest the first day of the presidential elections, in which four candidates are competing, which will last for three days inside the country, where the foreign media highlighted that the four candidates casting their votes since the early hours of the morning: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Head of Republican party Hazem Omar, Head of Wafd Party Abdel-Sanad Yamama, and Chairman of Egyptian Social Democratic Party Farid Zahran.
The foreign media highlighted the National Elections Authority's (NEA) confirmation of the regularity of the voting process in most polling stations, which opened their doors to voters at 9:00 am, with ''a high turnout density during the first hour of the opening of polling stations,'' noting that the NEA has deployed additional judges and members of judicial bodies to several subcommittees, to speed up the pace of the process and reduce the crowding in these committees.
The international media indicated that about 67 million citizens - registered electronically in voter lists - have the right to vote in these elections in about 11,600 electoral committees distributed among 27 governorates in the country, where its results to be issued on 18/12/2023, and a few days ago the NEA announced the completion of Egyptians abroad voting process which was held on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of December, at the headquarters of the Egyptian diplomatic missions, including embassies and consulates around the world.
In front of one of the electoral committees, the American newspaper ''The New York Times'' reported that Ahmed Salem, Member of the Board of Directors of the Upper Egypt Association in 10th of Ramadan City, said that he would vote for El-Sisi, saying: ''President El-Sisi is a leader of Egypt and not an ordinary President... his position the Gaza Issue was an honorable position for all Arabs.'' It also highlighted the statement of SIS Chairman Diaa Rashwan that voting in the elections shows that Egypt is on a serious path towards true political pluralism.
Quoting the Associated Press, the Washington Post indicated that President El-Sisi voted at a polling station in the Heliopolis immediately after the polls opened at 9: am, while the local television stations broadcasted scenes outside polling stations, where women and children were seen waving Egyptian flags.
The war between Israel and the armed Palestinian factions in Gaza Strip overshadowed the Egyptian presidential elections, which are being held amid an economic crisis that has deepened in recent months, according to an analysis by the New York Times.
In recent weeks, the Egyptian street's attention has become focused on what is happening in Gaza, and several calls have spread to boycott Western companies linked to or supportive for Israel.
As part of its coverage of the elections, the Saudi Al Arabiya channel recorded the strong presence of Egyptian women, as they were strongly present before the voting committees. Egyptian women abroad were also able to prove their strong presence in polling stations in front of consulates and embassies abroad.
It is noteworthy that a large number of elderly people attended to contribute to writing a new history of the Egyptian State, especially elderly women who were keen to accompany their grandchildren waving Egyptian flags. A number of elderly women in wheelchairs, some of them on crutches, also participated to cast their votes in the presidential elections, despite the crowding in front of the polls.
The Saudi newspaper ''Okaz'' also indicated that the keenness of the Egyptian ministers to cast their votes, each in their committee, to choose the next President of Egypt at the beginning of the first day of those elections inside the country, where the slogan ''Come down and participate'' was the ministers' slogan in front of their electoral committees to urge citizens to vote in the presidential elections, pointing out that the Egyptian people are the ones who will decide the presidential elections and they should not listen to the calls of some that the elections are decided for one of the candidates.
Also, The Iraqi News Agency published a report about ''the beginning of Egyptian voting in the presidential elections,'' indicating that 15,000 judge took over from various judicial authorities and bodies, supervising the presidential elections within the country, among the heads of subcommittees or conservation committees.
The Emirati media also paid great attention to the presidential elections on their first day, where a Sky News Arabia correspondent in Giza governorate reported that there were queues of voters in front of one of the polling stations even an hour before the boxes opened. It was noted that the majority of those queuing were youth, with the presence of women and elderly voters, which gives a first impression of the groups participating in the elections.
During a tour of a number of electoral stations in Cairo Governorate, the Emirati website "24 News" monitored a large turnout on the first day of the presidential elections, where a large number of youth, women and the elderly also lined up in front of the polling stations in schools.
In Turkey, quoting the Anadolu News Agency, the Daily Sabah newspaper website highlighted that the voting process on the first day of the Egyptian presidential elections, under an initial ''official'' estimate, witnessed high turnout, where the elections held ''under full judicial supervision, takes over by 15,000 judges, in addition to the participation of 14 international organizations in election follow-up work, with a total of 220 observers, along with 62 local civil society organizations, with a total of 22,340 observers,'' according to the agency.
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In the Asian media, the Chinese ''Xinhua'' agency highlighted, under the title ''Huge turnout by Egyptians at polling stations to cast their votes in the presidential elections,'' that the polling stations witnessed, on the first day of the presidential elections, a high turnout of Egyptian citizens to cast their votes and choose their presidential candidate, where the voters lines extended in front of polling stations.
The agency noted that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi cast his vote in the committee at the Heliopolis Secondary School for Girls, and among crowds of their supporters, the presidential candidates Hazem Omar cast his vote in the Siza Al-Nabrawi Committee in the Fifth Settlement, Farid Zahran in the Mokattam Secondary School for Boys, and Abdel-Sanad Yamama in the Badr Preparatory School in Dokki.
The Japanese news website "NHK" also focused on covering the presidential elections, highlighting that voters are directed to cast their votes in completely secure polling stations.
While the international media highlighted the announcement by the SIS Chairman that the SIS is following up around the clock the presidential elections, which began on the first of the three scheduled days for voting, while also reported what he indicated that 528 press correspondents for foreign media are participating in covering these elections, including 426 resident correspondents and 102 visitors to cover the elections, and all of these represent 110 media organizations, including newspapers, magazines, news agencies, news websites and television channels, where they belong to 33 countries from all continents of the world.
