• Statement by Commissioner C. Patten on elections in Peru
• Second public declaration of the EU Election Observation Mission to Peru.
• The EU Mission to Peru gave a first statement on the electoral process in a press conference held Friday, 9 of March.(13-3-01)
• The Head of the EOM of the EU in Peru released to the local press her first impressions.
  ( 6-3-01 )

Lima –The EU Mission to Peru gave a first statement on the electoral process in a press conference held Friday, 9 of March.

The European observers stressed their recognition of the great strides the country has made in overcoming the heritage of the past regime and to advance in the direction of a more democratic system.

Mr. Bartolomé Clavero, Deputy Head of the EU Mission to Peru, presented during a public statement, a first assessment of the course of the electoral process in the country.

The EOM appreciated the content of the recent amendments to the electoral laws and their positive impact upon the civic society, even though such reforms may have been hurriedly conceived given the short period available before the polling date on 8 April. This appraisal is shared by the main actors of the electoral process namely, the candidates, political parties and groups, and the public institutions.

The EU experts have obtained a positive impression of the efforts made by ONPE (the National Office for Electoral Processes in charge of the practical organisation of the elections) to rebuild public confidence in the transparency of the electoral process. They noted that international technical and financial co-operation has been instrumental in setting up the necessary mechanisms.

Some organisational problems, however, have not yet been entirely mastered, as the staff renewal within the electoral institutions. Also, some of these institutions (as the JNE, National Jury for Elections with normative and jurisdictional powers) have been lagging in projecting an image of efficiency at par with their high responsibilities.

One particular observation pertained to the specification surrounding the obligatory vote, as are the fines and administrative sanctions attached to voter abstention.

The European observers stressed their recognition of the great strides the country has made in overcoming the heritage of the past regime, and to advance in the direction of a more democratic system.

Journalists of all major media in the country were present at the Press Conference, which has received interested and essentially correct coverage in all the leading Saturday papers and in several TV Channels during their Friday evening News Editions.