IEOM: Serbian Elections in Line with International Standards

23 January 2007

The Parliamentary Elections in Serbia proceeded in line with international standards, reports the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM). The Elections provided the citizens with a true opportunity to select from a wide array of political platforms and were conducted in accordance with OSCE criteria and the Council of Europe standards on democratic elections, yet, there are certain provisions in election legislation that need to be reviewed, claims IEOM.

The members of the Mission assessed the Elections as free and fair. They add that the manner of conduct of Elections proves that Serbia has made significant progress towards free expression of the will of its citizens. Furthermore, the massive turnout shows their inclusion and interest to determine the further development of their country.

Ambassador Gert Arens, the Head of the long-term monitoring mission established last December by the OSCE/ODIHR, emphasized that six of the twenty parties and coalitions running in the Elections represented national minorities, while these were the first elections in years in which parties of the Albanian minority took part in national elections.

Observers also noted that campaign was active and unrestricted. A great number of media provided the voters with exhaustive information on political parties and their activities. The public service provided largely equal representation to all major parties running in the elections.

Although the electoral legislation offers guarantees for improved democratic elections, transparency and protection of secrecy of votes, IEOM expressed its concern over the fact that the Law allows the parties to pick the candidates that will actually enter the parliament, disregarding the actual order of candidates on party lists.