As the people of South Sudan undertake the task of building a new nation, public opinion research conducted by NDI shows they are optimistic about South Sudan’s future while also concerned about the fundamental challenges it faces.

NDI is fielding an international election mission for the Egyptian parliamentary polls scheduled to begin Monday, Nov. 28.

Members of the NDI mission will deploy in three teams to coincide with the three rounds of voting that will elect 498 members to Egypt’s lower house of parliament. In total, the Institute will have about 70 people from more than 25 countries, including 13 long-term delegates who have been in the country since early November and who will remain throughout the three rounds of voting and the post-election period. 

Morocco’s Nov. 25 parliamentary elections – the first since popular protests earlier this year prompted a reform process and revisions to the country’s constitution – were conducted transparently, according to an international observation mission organized by NDI.

In its statement, the Institute noted that the lack of voter enthusiasm, calls for an election day boycott, and the significant number of invalid and spoiled ballots collectively “signal citizen interest in further and deeper reform.”

NDI President Kenneth Wollack met in Islamabad last week with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari for a wide ranging conversation that included discussion of Institute programs to support political reform in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and to strengthen Pakistani political parties. 

Wollack also met with Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, as well as other leaders of ruling and opposition political parties, civil society and the diplomatic community.