OSCE/ODIHR opens mission to observe early parliamentary elections in Serbia
BELGRADE, 13 February 2014 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened a limited election observation mission to monitor the 16 March early parliamentary elections in Serbia.
The mission's deployment follows an invitation from the Serbian authorities.
The mission is headed by Ambassador Boris Frlec and consists of 10 international experts based in Belgrade and 12 long-term observers to be deployed throughout the country. The experts and observers are drawn from 19 countries.
Observers will assess the early parliamentary elections for compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, as well as national legislation. The mission will assess the legislative framework and its implementation, and will follow campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, the participation of national minorities and the resolution of election disputes. The mission will also conduct comprehensive monitoring of the media.
As part of the observation process, the mission will meet with relevant authorities, political parties and candidates, as well as with representatives from the judiciary, civil society and the media.
While the mission will visit a limited number of polling stations on election day, systematic observation of voting, counting or tabulation of results is not envisaged. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe are also planning to deploy observer delegations for these elections.
A statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued on the day after the elections. ODIHR will issue a final report about two months after the completion of the entire electoral process.
The OSCE/ODIHR limited election observation mission and the OSCE Mission to Serbia operate separately, under their respective mandates.
For further information, please contact Alice Colombi, Media Analyst at the limited election observation mission, at +381 63 1076 403 (mobile)
or
Thomas Rymer, OSCE/ODIHR Spokesperson at: +48 609 522 266 (mobile) or [email protected] (e-mail).