After witnessing the first round of presidential elections on 30th December 2015 and the legislatives which were invalidated by the Constitutional Court of transition, the President of the African Union Commission (AU) HE Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has sent a mission to observe the second round of presidential and first round of the legislative elections all scheduled for February 14, 2016.
The African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) is led by H.E. Souleymane Ndéné Ndiaye, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Senegal and comprises 40 observers. It is made up of ambassadors to the African Union in Addis Ababa, officials of election management bodies and members of civil society. These observers are from 19 countries.
The mandate of the AUEOM is to access the legality, fairness and credibility of the legislative and presidential elections of February 14, 2016 in the Central African Republic. This mandate is based on the relevant provisions of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted in 2007 and entered into force in 2012, which aims to improve the electoral processes in Africa, strengthen electoral institutions and the conduct of fair elections, free and transparent; the Declaration of the OAU / AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa 2002; AU Guidelines for observation missions and monitoring the elections of 2002 and other relevant international instruments governing election observation.
It is also based on the legal framework for the organization of legislative and presidential elections in the Central African Republic.
To this end, the mission will meet with political and judicial authorities of the country, officials of the defense forces and security institutions in charge of elections, media regulatory bodies, competing candidates, civil society organizations and representatives of the international community in order to access the arrangements made for the holding of transparent elections, fair and credible.
The Mission will also interact with other Electoral Observation and diplomatic missions present in the Central African Republic. At the end of the elections, the Mission will publish its preliminary findings at a press conference to be held on Tuesday, 16th of February 2016 at 11:30Am at Ledger Plaza Hotel Bangui.
At the end of the electoral process, the MOEUA will present a detailed assessment of the conduct of the electoral process in a final report that will be made available to the authorities of the Central African Republic and the general public.
The Mission's Secretariat is located at the Ledger Plaza Hotel Bangui.
The Electoral Observation Mission of the African Union thanked the authorities of the Central African Republic for the invitation and for all the provisions that they were willing to take in order to facilitate its work on the entire national territory.
Done at Bangui, 12th February 2016
For the Mission,
HE Souleymane Ndiaye Ndéné
Head of Mission
For more information, please contact:
Karine Kakasi Siaba | Email: Kakasik@africa-union.org | Democracy and Electoral Assistance Unit (DEAU) | DPA - AUC
For Media information, please contact:
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africanunion. org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia