Yesterday’s elections were held in accordance with the international standards and have contributed to the strengthening of the trust in the democratic process, concluded the international observers led by OSCE/IDIHR and the delegation of the Congress of local and regional authorities at the Council of Europe.
-Even though the process isn’t over yet, at these elections the democratic process of this country was seen and the trust of the voter in the elections process has increased. We hope that this will continue in the second round – said the Ambassador Audrey Glover, the Head of the OSCE/ODHIR Election Observation Mission.
She said that the legal frame presents a solid basis for holding fair and democratic elections if what is prescribed is obeyed. The observers have noticed that the campaign was calm even though verbal attacks by a certain political party and a violent incident were registered.
The non-transparency of the State Election Commission (SEK) regarding the process of certain decision making was an issue when they were deciding behind closed doors, and not all of them were published on the Commission’s webpage.
According to OSCE/ODIHR, at these elections, the gender balance wasn’t obeyed especially among the mayoral candidates. They stress that regardless of this legal obligation, SEC has been accepting counselor lists that were also not gender balanced.
