Brussels, 12/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - Following an invitation from the Guatemalan Government as well as the Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE), the European Commission has approved the deployment of an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the presidential, parliamentary and local elections in Guatemala scheduled for 9 November 2003, with a possible Presidential run off on 28 December. The Commission has allocated EUR 1.7 million to the funding of the EOM.
Jannis Sakellariou, Member of the European Parliament and Member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America and Mexico, has been appointed EU Chief Observer for this mission of more than 80 observers. He will be arriving in Guatemala, together with the core team of the EOM, on 24 September 2003. In total, the EU EOM will deploy more than 80 observers. The core team will comprise six experts, including one in media, and will be based in Guatemala City. 22 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country at a later stage. They will follow in the field pre-electoral preparations, campaigning, voting day and the post-election period. A further 60 short-term observers will arrive closer to election day. The EOM will be reinforced with 10 locally recruited short-term observers with EU citizenship.
The EU EOM will issue a preliminary statement shortly after election day, and later a final report detailing the findings of the mission and offering recommendations for possible improvement.