Polish elections demonstrate a democratic and pluralistic process, but challenges remain in oversight of the public media, OSCE finds

WARSAW, 22 October 2007 - The Polish parliamentary elections of 21 October demonstrated a democratic and pluralistic electoral process, founded on a high level of public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the electoral administration, under the authority of the National Election Commission. Challenges remain, however, in ensuring effective independent oversight of the conduct of the public broadcast media.

The registration of candidates and party lists was inclusive, offering voters a plurality of choice. The campaign was vigorously contested, polarized, but marked by occasional partisan interventions by institutions of the state. Election day revealed isolated technical shortcomings, which should be addressed to ensure continuing public confidence.

These are the preliminary findings of the Election Assessment Mission deployed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) at the invitation of the Polish authorities to assess the electoral environment and procedures for the 21 October elections for both houses of parliament, the Sejm and Senate.

The diverse media landscape enabled voters to make informed choices. Media debates between the principal contenders for head of government played a significant role in informing voters. Public concern, however, was expressed throughout the campaign at the perceived disproportion in quantitative coverage by the public television broadcaster, exacerbated by the absence of effective mechanisms of oversight.

Media monitoring by the Assessment Mission for the last two weeks of the campaign showed a lack of qualitative balance by public television in the coverage of the three main contestants. The National Broadcasting Council was unable properly to discharge its constitutional responsibility due to deficiencies in its structure and disagreements flowing from its partisan composition.

Despite the absence of specific legal provisions for international observation, which is inconsistent with OSCE commitments, the mission was granted full access to all levels of the election administration, including polling stations on election day.

The OSCE/ODIHR Assessment Mission, headed by Julian Peel Yates, began on 9 October and consisted of 12 international election experts from ten OSCE participating States. The mission, based in Warsaw, deployed to Lodz, Poznan, Wroclaw, Opole, Katowice, Krakow, Gdansk, Lublin, Torun and Bialystok. The election experts met candidates and representatives of political parties, government officials, electoral authorities, the media, national minorities and civil society. The mission also included a media monitoring component.

On election day, the mission visited a limited number of polling stations in the areas of Warsaw, Gdansk and Krakow, but no systematic observation of polling and counting procedures was conducted.

The OSCE/ODIHR will continue to follow the election process, and a Final Report, including possible recommendations for improvements, will be published after its conclusion.

The OSCE/ODIHR would like to thank the National Election Commission and other electoral authorities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of political parties, civil society organizations and the media, for their co-operation during the course of the mission.