Early Parliamentary Elections, 11 December 2016

Election Observation Mission press conference

• Head of Mission: Tana de Zulueta  (Italy)
• Core team of 14 staff from 8 participating States, based in Skopje
• 20 long-term observers to be deployed throughout the country
• 300 short-term observers to be requested from participating States

Mission schedule

3 November: Opening press conference

7 November:  Arrival of long-term observers

8 November: Briefing of long-term observers

9 November: Deployment of long-term observers

7 December:   Arrival of short-term observers

8 December:   Briefing of short-term observers

9 December:   Deployment of short-term observers

11 December: Election day

12 December: Press conference on preliminary findings and conclusions

14 December: Departure of short-term observers

17 December: Departure of long-term observers

20 December: Departure of the core team

Following an official invitation to observe the early parliamentary elections scheduled for 11 December 2016, based on the findings and conclusions of the Needs Assessment Mission deployed from 2 to 5 November 2015, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE/ODIHR deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for these elections.

The OSCE/ODIHR EOM and the OSCE Mission to Skopje operate separately under their specific mandates.

Long-term observation

The OSCE/ODIHR EOM, headed by Tana de Zulueta, consists of 14 international experts based in Skopje. In addition, 20 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 9 November.

The OSCE/ODIHR EOM will assess this election for its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will closely monitor voter registration, candidate registration, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant governmental bodies, election-related legislation and its implementation, the media environment and the resolution of election-related disputes. As part of the observation, the mission will also monitor the media coverage of the campaign.

Election Day

The OSCE/ODIHR will request participating States to second one hundred (300) short-term observers (STOs) to observe voting, counting and the tabulation of results. STOs will be deployed in multinational teams of two, under a deployment plan prepared by the OSCE/ODIHR EOM. In the interest of a broad and balanced representation among participating States, the OSCE/ODIHR requests that individual participating States nominate only up to 15 per cent of the total number of requested STOs.  

The day after the election, ODIHR will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued approximately eight weeks after the end of the observation mission.

Co-operation with Other Partners

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe are planning to deploy observer delegations for these elections.

Previous elections

The OSCE/ODIHR has observed 15 elections in the country, most recently the 2014 presidential and early parliamentary elections. The OSCE/ODIHR EOM was also deployed for these early parliamentary elections, which were initially scheduled for 24 April and 5 June, 2016.