George Tsereteli and Isabel SantosCOPENHAGEN, 19 September 2017 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is deploying a mission of 56 international observers, including 43 parliamentarians from 25 countries, to Germany for the 24 September parliamentary elections. The observers arrive in Berlin this week for two days of briefings before deploying for election day observation around the country.
Georgian parliamentarian George Tsereteli has been appointed as Special Co-ordinator of the short-term OSCE observer mission and Portuguese parliamentarian Isabel Santos will lead the OSCE PA’s delegation of observers. Tsereteli and Santos, both Vice-Presidents of the Parliamentary Assembly, will announce conclusions of the mission the day after the elections in Berlin.
“Having observed some 150 elections in more than 30 countries around the OSCE area, the OSCE PA is pleased to bring our expertise and international perspective to observing this weekend’s very important elections in Germany,” Tsereteli said today. “Not only does international election observation bring an added level of transparency to elections, it also promotes a spirit of co-operation and solidarity that is needed today more than ever.”
“We very much look forward to our first-ever election observation mission to Germany,” added Vice-President Santos. “We hope that we will be able to contribute in a meaningful way to observing an open and transparent process, and that this mission will be a mutually beneficial experience for us all.”
The election observation mission will consist of members of parliament from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, and Ukraine.
The decision to observe the elections followed an official invitation from the German government in March 2017 and the PA’s participation in a pre-electoral visit to the country – organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) – in July. The OSCE/ODIHR has also deployed an election expert team to Germany for the 24 September elections.
The elections will be assessed based on democratic commitments contained in the OSCE’s 1990 Copenhagen Document. Key aspects of the election procedures that observers will pay attention to include free voting procedures, that voters can cast their ballots in secrecy, and honest and accurate reporting of results. Observers will also consider issues related to the campaign and media atmosphere and whether all contestants are able to compete in a free and fair electoral environment.
Journalists are invited to a post-election media availability taking place 25 September at the Park Inn by Radisson Berlin Alexanderplatz at 13:30. (Room: Hall Doblin; Address: Alexanderplatz 7, D-10178, Berlin)
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 56 countries spanning, Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.
For more background on the OSCE PA’s election observation activities, please click here.
