Africa-Press – Liberia. The European Union Deputy Chief Election Observer, Jarek Domański has vowed that the mission will monitor the 2023 presidential and Representative elections impartially and independently, void of interference.
“We will monitor the process impartially and independently. I can assure you,” he said.
He added that the EU mission will assess the election based on regional and international standards and commitments that Liberia has signed up for.
“As well as the National Law, it will focus on the entire electoral process, not only on election day. We will cover election administration, the legal aspect, the media and the social media aspect.”
The European Union is among key international partners partnering with the National Elections Commission (NEC) to monitor not only the polling day but campaigns, debates, rallies and endorsements. Their goal is to ensure that the election is free, fair and peaceful.
According to Domański, the European Union was invited by the government to monitor the elections. “We have experts from different countries in Europe with experience in Africa and Europe and they will be monitoring the electoral process.”
The deputy chief election observer made the promise at the deployment of 20 Long-Term Observers in the fifteen counties.
“Following the invitation of the government of Liberia, the European Union has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), led by Chief Observer Andreas Schieder, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Austria, to observe the General Elections on 10 October. Today the EU EOM has deployed 20 Long-Term Observers all over Liberia.”
“A group of 20 Long-Term Observers joined the EU EOM on 5 September and are deploying today, after three-days briefing, to follow the electoral preparations and campaign in the 15 counties of Liberia. A week prior to Election Day, 40 Short-Term Observers will be additionally deployed throughout the country, alongside a Delegation of Members of the European Parliament and around 20 diplomats from EU Member States accredited in Liberia. The EU Election Observers come from the 27 different EU Member States, as well as Canada and Norway, bringing the number of EU Observers on Election Day to around 100.”
“These elections mark a significant milestone in consolidation of Liberian democracy” said Domański. “The European Union Election Observation Mission will monitor the process impartially and independently. I can ensure that our team of analysts and observers will deliver an objective assessment of the upcoming electoral process.”
Domański is being assisted by a Core Team of 10 analysts. The group of experts consists of an election, political, legal, campaign finance, media and social media, and a data analyst. On 4 September, the team met with Davidetta Browne Lansanah, Chairperson, Chairwoman and Commissioners of NEC.
“It is a long term observing. They will be there, they will talk to the local communities, to all the stakeholders. Closer to the election day we will have 14 short term observers then we will have seven members of the European parliament who will join. We will have some accredited diplomats who will join the mission to observe so in all we will have 100 coming from all europe member states, Canada and Norway. Two days after the election we will organized a press conference and we will access the elections process and access all the aspect of the election process. Until this day we will not make any assessment,” said Domański.
He added that All EU EOM observers are bound by a code of conduct, which requires strict neutrality and non-interference. The EU EOM undertakes its work in accordance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation. It will publish its initial findings in a preliminary statement, which will be presented in a press conference shortly after Election Day. A Final Report with concrete recommendations to enhance future electoral processes will be presented at a later stage.
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