Brussels, 08/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - Algeria goes to the polls on Thursday 10 May. Campaigning, which officially closed on Sunday, took place “without any major incidents”, said MEP José Ignacio Salafranca (EPP, Spain), who heads the EU observation team on Monday. He was leading a short ceremony marking the departure of observers for the country's 48 various wilayas (governates). “We are friends of Algeria and we have no desire to intervene in the elections. We are here to consolidate the cause of democracy in Algeria”, he stated. He said that seven members of the European Parliament accompanied by four experts, who will take part in the observation of the election, are also in Algiers.
Salafranca was also called on to snuff out the first spark of controversy following the silence - or implicit refusal - of the country's authorities to accede to his request for access to the national voters' roll. Suspicions of “espying” had even been raised. Local media report that Salafranca responded with humour: “I'm not a spy. Do you think I have the face of someone leading a spy ring? I'm James Bond? This would be the first time in history that spies accompany police representatives”, he added. Ultimately it was decided that the European observers “will be able to consult local electoral rolls, but not the national roll”. “The Ministry of Home Affairs has allowed us to consult wilaya electoral rolls”, Salafranca said in Algiers. “It would have been better if we had been able to consult national rolls.” (FB/transl.rt)