Bolivian voters are being invited to designate their representatives to a Constituent Assembly, which will be charged with drafting a new Constitution for the country; and to express their view on providing for regional autonomy within the new Constitution. The EU EOM will be led by Monica Frassoni, Member of the European Parliament.
The Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said: �We follow the situation in Bolivia with great interest, in particular the efforts of the new government to promote inclusive reforms after the sweeping political change of last December�s elections.� And she added: �The upcoming polls are an especially important opportunity for the Bolivians. They are a key milestone in the country�s democratic path and they could bring extensive changes in the balance of political, economic and social power. We hope that the presence of an EOM will make a positive contribution to these polls and, therefore, to Bolivian democracy.�
The EOM Core Team (consisting of the Chief Observer and 8 experts, including inter alia an Election/Legal Expert, and a Security Adviser) started arriving in la Paz the week 24th May. They were shortly joined by 26 Long-Term Observers (LTOs), who have been deployed throughout the country to observe the campaign period and pre-election preparations as well as Election Day and the post-election period. A total of 60 Short-Term Observers (STOs), and possibly some diplomats from EU Member State embassies in La Paz, will observe voting, counting and the compilation of results.
The Commission is making available �1,790,000, from the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), to meet the costs of deploying this mission.
As is customary, the European Commission has now concluded Memoranda of Understanding with the Bolivian authorities which establish the terms of reference for the deployment of observers in line with the EU�s standard methodology.
EU EOMs are an important instrument for building confidence in the democratic processes of a country and are deployed in line with the EU�s commitment to promote democracy, human rights and the respect for the rule of law. EU election observation missions are independent and professional, and for this reason their findings are widely seen as credible and trustworthy.
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