Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-23-Speech-3-290"
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"en.20070523.21.3-290"2
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".
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I have listened with great interest to the reports by the Council and the Commission, and as a member of the delegation of parliamentary observers at the presidential elections, I can fully confirm everything that has been said so far. The elections were definitely not conducted in compliance with international standards, since the standards laid down at international level were not reached, nor even the standards of the African states themselves.
There was even a postponement in the opening time of polling stations that was decided on and notified only the day before, so that the majority of the population was unaware of it. Most of the polling stations closed early. There was an absence of any kind of secret ballot – and I could go on indefinitely, mentioning, for example, an electoral commission that was independent solely in name, but in fact was closely linked to the government.
I would also like to mention the intimidating atmosphere. Hauwa Ibrahim, holder of the 2005 Sakharov prize, was supposed to meet our delegation in a public place but requested a change in the location of the appointment because she did not feel sufficiently safe.
I would like to move the debate on to what can be done in the future. We absolutely must call for investigations into the electoral irregularities, call for an independent electoral commission, call for the Court of Appeal to be truly independent in dealing with electoral appeals and verify this, and state that new elections are necessary. We cannot, however, stop at just this, and I already see in the background the risk that the political choices of the Council are tending in the direction of continuing as if nothing was the matter. Let us not conceal the reason – some people may think that what matters is to have a government that is more or less legitimised, but in a country from which we can continue to buy oil.
This cannot be the solution. I would like to ask what the intentions are with regard to using some instruments that the European Union possesses. For example, there is the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights. Are we able to verify that the Nigerian Government remains uninvolved in the selection and implementation of projects that are financed by this instrument? I would like to ask the Commissioner, as I have already done on other occasions, what is happening with the democratic clause on rights, which was adopted by a very large majority within this Parliament, but never accepted by the Commission or the Council. It has never been transformed into the powerful tool that it could be, and in this case it could be extremely useful to place trade with Europe in the scales too, from the viewpoint of democratic progress.
Last, but not least, there is the issue of what role Europe intends to play regarding events in the Niger delta. It does not seem adequate to me that individual States should do their utmost and be prepared to pay ransoms when someone is seized. We must call for a start in talks, relations and meetings between the Nigerian Government and the representatives of local people, putting pressure not only on the government but also on the large European companies operating in that region without any respect for human rights or environmental rights."@en1
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