India, Egypt ink MOU for cooperation in electoral management

The Election Commission of India and the Supreme Presidential Election Committee of Egypt will henceforth cooperate on initiatives designed to strengthen electoral systems and democratic institutions, besides training of personnel and human resource development.

The MoU was signed between India's Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and Secretary General of Egypt's Election Committee Hatem Bagato here.

Sampath said Egypt has evinced keen interest in the use of electronic voting machines and India's voter education programme and techniques used for cracking election frauds.

He also recalled the field visit of Indian poll officials during the Egyptian presidential election in January. The CEC also invited Egyptian participation in ECI's international election programme slated next month.

Bagato said, "Egypt looks forward to catching up with those countries who have moved forward on this road" of best election practices after the "people's revolution" in his country. "We are seeking cooperation with India to face future challenges," he said.

On the MoU, he said it will serve as "a framework of our cooperation and set guidelines for the future...It is a first step to a long way of our cooperation".

Besides exchange of election management techniques, the EC will also support Egypt in building resources of its poll personnel and provide training to them at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIDEM), which has already provided training to officials engaged in elections in a number of countries.