Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-04-Speech-1-168"
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"en.20060904.21.1-168"2
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"Mr President, it is unusual for this Parliament to debate an electoral process in the middle of that election taking place. However, there are a number of reasons why that is justified.
Firstly, as colleagues have said, the three million deaths in five years; there are still one thousand people a day in the Congo dying from the indirect consequences of that war.
Secondly, the electoral process to enable those former belligerents to join the democratic process remains fragile, as the three days of fighting in the Congo following the publication of the preliminary first-round results demonstrates. We should do everything as a Parliament to support the process of post-conflict reconciliation and democratic transformation.
Thirdly, this is an electoral process where the EU is playing a central role, as Commissioner Michel has already explained: 80% of the cost of the election is being met by the European Union, the biggest ever EU electoral observation mission in Africa and all of it backed up by an EU military mission assisting our UN partners in providing the necessary protection to enable the election to take place in peace and stability.
The electoral observation mission, ably led by our colleague General Morillon – whose work I commend – has made only a preliminary report and any political assessment this Parliament makes must similarly be guarded before drawing our own conclusions in this House. Yet, the Members of the European Parliament present did note the late publication of the voter rolls, the failure in many, if not most, cases for the candidate details to be posted outside the polling stations and the apparent sharp inequalities between the financial means available to different candidates and parties, together with legitimate questions as to how their money was raised.
However, in terms of the technical conduct of the elections, I want to emphasise the incredible commitment to the process shown by the mainly young polling officials. In Lubumbashi, where I was based, they worked non-stop throughout the night, without electricity, fuel or water; a 22-hour count conducted in large part by candlelight and where the officials slept for a few minutes by rota in their determination to enable the process to be completed fairly and accurately. I have been taking part in elections since 1979. I have never seen an election like it.
Finally, my colleague, Mr Schröder, has already made it quite clear that it was necessary to enable Commissioner Michel last week to answer on the record the questions raised with him, and that process has been completed. Tonight, I want to simply repeat my closing statement to the Commission last week and say that redoubled efforts should be made to insist on the European Union’s neutrality in this process and that the European observation mission must be specifically tasked with monitoring the allegations of bias made in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I invite the Commissioner to join with his colleague, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, to ensure that the results of this monitoring are fully evaluated, both for the second round of the elections in the Congo, and for the benefit of future European electoral missions."@en1
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