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EU signs MoU for 2011 election monitoring

EU signs MoU for 2011 election monitoring
By Moses Kuwema
Thu 21 July 2011, 13:59 CAT

THE presence of the European Union election observers will contribute to the quality of Zambia’s electoral process and will boost the confidence of all electoral stakeholders, says EU Charge d'Affaires Aloy Lorkeers.

During the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which outlines the rights and obligations of the EU election observation mission to be deployed to Zambia for this year's elections, Lorkeers said genuine elections were an essential basis for sustainable development and a functioning democracy.

“The EU election observation mission will be the third of its kind to be deployed to Zambia, having done so previously in 2001 and 2006.

This underlines the EU's continued commitment to the democratic process in Zambia. The EU has gained a wealth of experience in election observation around the world and is generally one of the most credible tools for election observation that exists today,” said Lorkeers yesterday.

He said the presence of the EU election observers would contribute to further strengthening the multi-party dispensation in Zambia.

He said the EU election observation mission does not have a political mandate.

Lorkeers said the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Catherine Aston would issue a political statement after the completion of the bloc’s election observation mission to Zambia.
And foreign affairs minister Kabinga Pande said the government would by all means ensure that this year's elections are held in a free and fair manner.

Pande said it was only natural that the EU being the largest multilateral partner to Zambia would have keen interest in monitoring the developments in Zambia.

“Today's ceremony is a manifestation of the level of cooperation that exists between Zambia and the EU. The role of international observers is to give credibility to the elections. It must be emphasised that in accordance with the Zambian law, the sole board charged with the responsibility of tabulating is the Electoral Commission of Zambia,” said Pande.

Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, EU, MoU

posted by MrK @ 4:33 PM