Mauritania: EU to deploy Election Observation Mission for Presidential Elections

Following an invitation from the Government of Mauritania, the European Commission has decided to deploy an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Mauritania for the Presidential elections scheduled to take place on 11 March 2007. The EU EOM will be led by French Member of the European Parliament, Marie-Anne Isler-Béguin. These elections follow the recent municipal and legislative elections, also observed by the EU¹, and will complete the electoral cycle launched by the Mauritanian authorities 6 months ago with the successful constitutional referendum.

European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, declared: "I believe that the EOM that we sent to last November municipal and legislative elections played a key role in enhancing the transparency of the electoral process and in engaging us in a continuous dialogue with the country. The Parliamentary elections confirm the commitment of the Mauritanian government to work towards the re-establishment of democratic institutions and our new EOM symbolises our continuous support to Mauritania in its democratic reform."

The EOM core team will consist of the Chief Election Observer and six experts who will arrive in the country during the third week of February. They will be joined by 20 Long-Term Observers (LTOs), who will observe the campaign period and pre-election preparations throughout the country as well as election day itself and the post-election period. A total of 40 Short-Term Observers (STOs) will observe voting, counting and the compilation of results.

EU EOMs are an important instrument for enhancing transparency and building confidence in the democratic process of a country and are deployed in line with the EU's commitment to promote democracy, human rights and the respect for the rule of law. EU election observation missions are independent and professional, and, for this reason, their findings are widely accepted as credible and trustworthy.

This observation mission complements other actions by the EU in support of the elections in Mauritania. The European Commission contributes €6 million under the 9th FED to the organisation and supervision of the elections.

The observation mission to the November 2006 legislative and municipal elections, also led by Marie-Anne Isler-Beguin, commented the Mauritanians for the orderly and transparent conduct of the elections, conducted in accordance with international standards, and pointed some deficiencies in the domain of the media and civil society monitoring.

Further information on
the EU's human rights and democratisation policy and EU Election Assistance & Observation

is available on the following website:
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/eidhr/index_en.htm


¹ http://www.eueommauritania.org

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