OSCE Chairmanship holds seminar on elections

VIENNA, 21 July 2008 - Representatives of OSCE participating States gathered at a seminar in Vienna today to discuss the Organization's role in assisting the development of electoral processes, including through election observation.

Finland, which holds the OSCE Chairmanship, has emphasized the implementation of OSCE commitments related to elections and election observation by the 56 participating States. The Vienna Seminar is part of efforts to encourage dialogue on democratic elections and international observation of elections in the OSCE area. The participating States have expressed differing views about the modalities of election observation.

"OSCE assistance in developing electoral processes is as pertinent today as it was in 1990, when OSCE commitments on elections were adopted," said Kimmo Kiljunen, Special Envoy of the Chairman-in-Office on election-related issues.

The two-day seminar brings together more than 250 participants from across the OSCE region to discuss challenges and best practices in implementing existing OSCE election-related commitments and the conduct of election observation. The discussions will also cover best practices in follow-up to recommendations of observation reports and technical assistance by the OSCE. Case studies will include presentations by representatives of Albania, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

The OSCE election monitoring bodies - the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly - together with representatives of other international organizations and academics will contribute to the discussions.

Kiljunen, who also serves as Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and has extensive experience in election monitoring, highlighted the continued importance of international election observation.

"OSCE participating States from Vancouver to Vladivostok can benefit from OSCE expertise in developing their electoral systems," Kiljunen said. "The role of election monitoring is not diminishing. On the contrary, OSCE election observation is a model that has been adopted by other international organizations and in other regions in the world. It will also have an ever-increasing importance in ensuring the realization of genuine elections in the age of digitalization."

"The autonomous character of election observation activities must be preserved in order to ensure an objective and fair assessment of elections," he added. He also stressed the importance of conducting a serious and open dialogue among the participating States to overcome any diverging views on election-related issues.