site.btaPACE, OSCE Observers Present Bulgarian Parliamentary Elections Preliminary Conclusions

PACE, OSCE Observers Present Bulgarian Parliamentary Elections Preliminary Conclusions

Sofia, March 27 (BTA) - The observer delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) presented their observations related to the Bulgarian parliamentary elections at a news conference Monday. These were their preliminary conclusions before their final report.

The observers concluded that on election day the citizens of Bulgaria could make a free choice in elections that were well organised, although certain shortcomings remain, said Marie-Christine Dalloz, head of the delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The delegation was informed by various interlocutors of cases of interference by the government of a foreign country in the electoral process. The Electoral Code allows all citizens, independently of their ethnic origin, to elect their representatives to the National Assembly, Dalloz added. The newly elected National Assembly of Bulgaria will have the responsibility to work to resolve both internal and external tensions.

"The Parliamentary Assembly remains at the disposal of the newly elected Parliament to pursue its co-operation in the framework of its monitoring procedure, in order to improve its electoral legislation and its implementation," Dalloz declared as quoted by the PACE website.

Previous recommendations by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and the Council of Europe's Venice Commission that remain to be addressed include those related to suffrage rights, campaign finance reporting, and the complaints and appeals system.

"The campaign leading up to yesterday's elections allowed participants to compete for the support of the electorate. With regard to the laws and rules governing elections, work still needs to be done to bring these more in line with OSCE commitments and other international standards," said Roman Jakic, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR limited election observation mission.

The Electoral Code prohibits campaigning in any language other than Bulgarian, which affected the ability of some contestants to communicate with the electorate, he added. Some parties used inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric, mainly against the Roma and Turkish communities.

The media provided contestants with a platform to present their views through debates, talk shows and paid advertisement. While contestants actively used the free time provided on public broadcasters, sparse broadcast news coverage and limited editorial content in the print media, along with a lack of political investigative and analytical reporting, significantly limited the information available to voters, the observers said.

In general, the election administration conducted its work in a professional and transparent manner, although the Central Election Commission did not reach the required qualified majority to approve several decisions. The voting process on election day was transparent, but some procedural shortcomings were noted during counting in the limited number of polling stations observed.

Contestants in Bulgaria's early parliamentary elections could reach out to voters freely, while the low-key campaign was generally characterised by public disillusionment with politics and election weariness, international observers concluded in a preliminary statement released today. The legal framework is largely conducive to holding democratic elections, and amendments since the 2014 elections addressed some previous recommendations for improvements, but further efforts are needed, the statement says.