The EU has decided to send two Election Observation Missions for the parliamentary, provincial and municipal elections in São Tomé and Príncipe on 25 September and for the parliamentary elections in Lesotho on 7 October. It was invited to do so in both cases by the governments of these countries.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, appointed MEP Maria-Manuel Leitão-Marques (S&D, Portuguese) to lead the mission to São Tomé and Príncipe. In the 2021 presidential election, the EU described the electoral process as “free and competitive” (see EUROPE 12787/27), despite contested results in the country between the two rounds.
The first observation experts will arrive in the country at the end of August.
For Lesotho, Mr Borrell appointed Ignazio Corrao (Greens/EFA, Italian) as chief observer for the future mission. This will start on 27 August with the arrival of the first nine experts in the country.
The Lesotho election should have already been held in June 2022, but was postponed. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)