ODIHR opens observation mission for the presidential election in Montenegro
PODGORICA, 7 March 2018 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened an election observation mission for the 15 April presidential election in Montenegro. The mission’s deployment follows an official invitation from the Montenegrin authorities.
The mission is led by Tana de Zulueta and consists of a core team of 11 experts based in Podgorica and 16 long-term observers to be deployed in teams of two across the country. In addition, ODIHR will request 100 short-term observers to monitor proceedings on election day. The experts and long-term observers are drawn from 14 countries.
The mission will assess the presidential election for compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards and obligations for democratic elections, as well as with domestic legislation. Observers will follow the candidate registration process, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant state bodies, implementation of the legal framework and the resolution of election disputes. As part of the observation, the mission will also monitor the media coverage of the campaign.
In the course of its observation, the mission will meet with representatives of relevant authorities and of political parties, as well as with representatives of civil society, the media and the international community.
On election day, observers will monitor the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots and the tabulation of results. For election day, the mission plans to join efforts with a delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
A statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued on the day after the election. A final report on the observation of the entire election process and including recommendations will be published approximately two months after the completion of the election process.
For further information please visit http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/montenegro or contact Giuseppe Milazzo, Media Analyst with the election observation mission, +382 (0) 69 364 307, or at giuseppe.milazzo@odihr.me
or
Thomas Rymer, ODIHR Spokesperson, at + 48 609 522 266 or thomas.rymer@odihr.pl ">thomas.rymer@odihr.pl .