Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

Domestic observation also plays an important role. During Egypt’s parliamentary
elections in November and December, domestic observers and civil society
organisations repeatedly raised their serious concerns about the elections and
preparations for them. They highlighted the lack of access for international monitors,
independent national monitors and candidate representatives to the counting
process; and the crack-down on the media in the run-up to the elections in an
attempt to limit media comment. In a number of cases, reported voting irregularities
and the harassment and arrest of opposition candidates and their supporters
amounted to serious interference in the electoral process. This called into question
the credibility of the results. The majority of the opposition parties and candidates
refused to participate in the second round of elections, citing these issues. We
strongly encouraged the Egyptian authorities to address these concerns. We remain
convinced that vigorous engagement in a fully transparent, democratic process is the
best path to ensure that Egypt realises its full potential.
The Westminster Foundation for Democracy
Established in 1992 to support the newly emerging democracies of Central and
Eastern Europe, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy is the UK’s primary
organisation supporting the development of political parties and democratic
institutions around the world. The foundation is a non-departmental public body and
in 2010/11 received an annual grant in aid of £3.4 million from the FCO. The
foundation works with and through all the Westminster-based political parties, both
on a sister-party and cross-party basis, and is now active in Africa, the Middle East
and Asia, as well as in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
The foundation’s projects and programmes promote the values of multi-party
democracy, good governance, transparency and accountability. It has advanced
human rights by ensuring that political parties, parliaments and elected
representatives are able to uphold, protect and realise these rights through better
legislation, oversight and representation.
In Macedonia, building strong democratic institutions that will promote and protect
human rights is a vital step in Euro-Atlantic integration. But Macedonia’s key political
institutions lack an awareness and understanding of universal human rights
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