FIRST BATCH OF 34 EUROPEAN UNION OBSERVERS ARRIVES READY FOR POLLS

EU chief observer, Judith Sargentini

Thirty-four long-term observers from the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Tanzania have arrived in Dar es Salaam for the General Election  scheduled for October 25.
 According to a statement availed to The Guardian yesterday by European Union the group will join the EU EOM’s core team of election analysts who arrived in Tanzania on September 11, this year.

The EU EOM to Tanzania is led by Judith Sargentini, a Member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands.

 

The statement said following a two-day briefing in Dar es Salaam on all aspects of the electoral process, the long-term observers will be deployed in teams of two across Tanzania. 

 

It said their task over the next six weeks is to observe election preparations, including the election campaign and the work of the election administration. 

 

They will also observe voting, counting, the tabulation of results, as well as the handling of possible election-related complaints and appeals. 

 

“The work of the long-term observers will allow the EU EOM to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the electoral process across the whole country– before, during and after Election Day,” said EU chief observer, Judith Sargentini. 

 

“Our observers will meet with election officials, candidates and representatives of civil society, and will report their observations back to the core team in Dar es Salaam, so that an informed and impartial assessment of the election is made.” 

 

The EU EOM to Tanzania was deployed following an invitation from the government, the National Electoral Commission and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission.

 

The mandate of the mission is to observe all aspects of the electoral process and to assess the extent to which the elections comply with international and regional commitments for democratic elections undertaken by Tanzania, as well as with Tanzanian law. 

The EU EOM will work independently of EU institutions and EU member states. 

 

All observers adhere to a Code of Conduct that requires strict neutrality in the course of their work. The EU EOM operates in accordance with the ‘Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation’, adopted at the United Nations in 2005 by a number of international bodies involved in election observation. 

 

At full strength, the EU Election Observation Mission to Tanzania will comprise around 140 observers. In addition to the Core Team and the long-term observers, the EU EOM will be joined closer to Election Day by 60 short-term observers, a delegation of members of the European Parliament, and locally-recruited short-term observers from the EU delegation, as well as embassies of EU member states, Norway, Switzerland and Canada in Dar es Salaam.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN