EU Election Observer team to act professionally — Tamas Meszerics

The European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission (EOM) in Ghana has pledged to act professionally and not interfere in the electoral process.

The EU EOM will conduct a comprehensive and impartial analysis of the whole electoral process, the mission stated this at a press conference in Accra yesterday.The Chief Observer, Mr Tamás Meszerics, gave an assurance that the team would not work against its mandate.The team is in the country to observe the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections slated for December 7, 2016.EU deploysAlready, 24 members have been deployed as long-term observers to the 10 regions of the country to begin the exercise, while 32 will also serve as short-term observers. They will be joined by a team of seven members from the EU Parliament, as well as representatives of the embassies of the EU in Ghana, bringing the total number of observers on election day to 80.The EU EOM is expected to assess the conduct of the elections based on the country’s laws regarding elections, as well as regional and international standards.Being the third time the mission is embarking on the exercise, the team is expected to spend about three weeks in the country, after which the team members will be expected to file a final report and make recommendations that will improve Ghana’s electoral system.If the election goes to a second round, the team will remain in Ghana until the entire process is exhausted before making its final recommendations and observations.Stakeholders Mr Meszerics also explained that since the team’s arrival, it had been meeting stakeholders: the Electoral Commission (EC), political parties, the media and some cabinet ministers.“We are doing all these so that all stakeholders will feel part of the entire exercise from start to finish,” he said and emphasised that the team was in the country to work for its interest.In response to some questions from the media, the Assistant Chief Observer, Mr Mark Stevens, said some recommendations made after the 2012 elections had been adopted and implemented by the EC, and he applauded the commission for that.He particularly mentioned the increase in polling stations as one of the key observations made, noting that four years ago, the team observed that the number of polling stations were inadequate for the total number of eligible voters in the country.After the 2012 general election the EC increased the number of polling stations from 23,000 to 26,000.TransparencyMr Stevens, who was the leader for the team which arrived in Ghana for Election 2012, stated that it was recommended that there was the need to increase the level of transparency in terms of the collation of results at the polling stations in order not to raise doubts about the credibility and transparency of the results after they were finally counted.In spite of these, there were some recommendations Mr Stevens said the team believed were being considered by the stakeholders in the election which would be implemented later.“We recommended that the amount of the funds used by political parties during campaigns should be limited, but that is still under consideration,” he added.Background The EU EOM began observing elections in Ghana in 2008. It has since been engaging in the exercise every four years.This reflects the EU's long-term commitment to supporting credible, transparent and inclusive elections in the country.It uses an established methodology for observing elections in accordance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, adopted by the United Nations in 2005.Its actions are such that it does not legitimise the electoral process nor does it validate the electoral results.Observers are bound by a strict code of conduct which requires them to be neutral and impartial. The EU supports African efforts to reinforce the democratisation process across the continent. Since 2000, more than 70 election observation missions have been deployed by the EU to various African countries.