08/10/2014 Election observation
A 30-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL), will be in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 9 to 13 October to observe the holding of the general elections, alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
The delegation will meet various political parties, the Central Election Commission, civil society and media representatives before observing the ballot on 12 October.
A PACE pre-electoral delegation, visiting Sarajevo and Banja Luka from 17 to 19 September, noted with satisfaction that “all political stakeholders expressed genuine confidence in the Central Election Commission’s work”. Nevertheless, the delegation called on the Central Election Commission, main political stakeholders and relevant state bodies “to assure the neutral work of all polling station commissions and to take appropriate measures to avoid any manipulations”.
The delegation also expressed great concern that the authorities failed to amend the constitutional and legal framework to remove ethnicity and residency-based discrimination with regard to the right to stand for elections to the Presidency and House of Peoples. As a result, the 12 October general election will once again be held in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Preliminary conclusions will be announced at a joint press conference on Monday, 13 October, at 14:00, in the Banja Luka Room of the Bristol Hotel, Fra Filipa Lastrića 2, Sarajevo 71000.
Contact: PACE Communication Division - Tel: +33(0)3 88 41 31 93 ; [email protected]