AG/RES. 1485 (XXVII-O/97)

MEETING OF GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES ON ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

(Resolution adopted at the seventh plenary session, held on June 5, 1997)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the report of the Permanent Council on the meeting of government representatives on electoral campaign contributions (CP/doc.2894/97) and the document presented by the Permanent Mission of Venezuela on the subject (CP/CAJP-1172/97);

BEARING IN MIND that the Charter of the Organization of American States affirms in its preamble that "representative democracy is an indispensable condition for the stability, peace and development of the region" and establishes as one of the essential purposes of the Organization the promotion and consolidation of "representative democracy with due respect for the principle of nonintervention";

RECALLING that in the Declaration of Principles of the Summit of the Americas the heads of state and government stated that "democracy is based, among other fundamentals, on free and transparent elections and includes the right of all citizens to participate in government"; and

CONSIDERING that there is growing concern in the Hemisphere that the effective exercise of representative democracy, a fundamental principle established in the Charter of the Organization of American States, may be threatened by contributions that undermine the integrity of the electoral process,

RESOLVES:

1. To note with satisfaction the Permanent Council report, and to convene a meeting of government representatives on electoral campaign contributions.

2. To thank the Government of Venezuela for its generous offer to host the meeting of government representatives on electoral campaign contributions, and to accept that offer.

3. To instruct the Permanent Council to draw up an agenda and set the date for the meeting of government representatives on electoral campaign contributions; and to instruct the General Secretariat to lend the necessary support, within allocated resources approved in the program-budget and other resources, for holding this meeting.

4. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth regular session on the implementation of this resolution.