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OAS Permanent Council Receives Report on Regional and Municipal Elections in Peru

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today received the verbal report of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) to the regional and municipal elections in Peru on October 5, 2014. The report highlighted the work of the three institutions of the Peruvian electoral system and formulated recommendations to strengthen the national political parties.

The former Foreign Minister of Uruguay Sergio Abreu, who was designated as Chief of Mission by the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, congratulated Peru on the coordinated work of the three institutions that comprise the country´s electoral system: the National Electoral Jury, the National Office of Electoral Processes and the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status. “Their work shows the maturity of the electoral bodies of the country,” he said.

In his report, former Foreign Minister Abreu highlighted the efforts of the three institutions in professionalizing the work of their staff and to implement mechanisms of quality management, through the certification of their processes under ISO standards. “These initiatives confirm the commitment of the electoral authorities to strengthen the institutions,” added the Uruguayan diplomat.

The Chief of the EOM recalled that on Election Day, 17,862,354 (83.85%) Peruvians voted in 4,936 voting centers throughout the country. “To observe this democratic exercise, the OAS deployed a team of 33 observers that visited a total of 174 voting centers in 15 departments,” he said. In addition, he added that during the day 12,692 authorities were elected in the country, including 25 regional presidents and vice presidents, 274 regional counsellors, 195 provincial mayors, 1,751 provincial aldermen, 1,647 district mayors and 8,775 district aldermen.

Among the recommendations to the Government of Peru, the former Uruguayan Minister emphasized the importance of evaluating the training program implemented for member of voting centers as well as clerks, in order “to guarantee that they understand the specific functions and can carry them out with precision and speed throughout voting day.” He also underlined the need to strengthen national parties, regularize “public financing” of the electoral campaigns, and strengthen gender equality and the participation of native groups and afro-descendants in political activity.

The Permanent Representative of Peru, Juan Federico Jiménez, for his part, thanked the EOM for its report and recalled that Peruvian democracy has many strengths despite its youth. “Since we recovered democracy, 14 years have passed an, and this is the longest democratic period in recent years. For us, democratic governance is the most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development,” said the Peruvian diplomat, who also highlighted the positive performance of the country´s economy.

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, congratulated the Government of Peru on the election and the EOM for its “complete report.” In addition, he praised the intensity of the work of the electoral missions of the OAS and called the contributions of the member countries to this initiative “essential.”

On another point of the agenda, the OAS Permanent Council formally agreed to change the date of the forty-fifth Regular Meeting of the General Assembly, which will be held on June 15 and 16, 2015 in Washington, DC. The resolution approved today endorses the agreement reached in the Council meeting on March 30.

In addition the OAS body approved a resolution that authorizes the temporary use of resources of the Treasury Fund of the OAS for the Regular Fund of the Organization until January 31, 2016.
In other business, the Permanent Representative of Panama, Jorge Miranda, summarized the achievements reached during the recently concluded Summit of the Americas held in his country. The Council also expressed its condolences to the people of Uruguay over the recent passing of the writer Eduardo Galeano, praised as one of the greatest figures of modern Latin American literature.

The meeting was the first presided over by the Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago, Neil Parsan, who will hold the position of Chair during the next three months. The Council congratulated Ambassador Parsan and wished him success, while also bidding farewell and praising the work of the outgoing Chair, the Permanent Representative of Suriname, Niermala Badrising.

During the meeting, the delegations of Suriname, Canada, Uruguay, Guatemala, Mexico, Chile, The Bahamas, Brazil, the United States, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Jamaica, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Belize, Argentina, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago took the floor.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video news of the event will be available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-138/15