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OAS and Costa Rica Sign Agreement for Observation Mission in Municipal Elections of December 5th

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Government of Costa Rica today signed the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of Observers of the Electoral Mission for the Municipal Elections of December 5th, 2010, which establishes the legal parameters for the activities of the group of observers that will travel to the Central American country and their cooperation with local authorities.

The main objective of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) will be to verify that the electoral process involving the municipal elections of that day will flow in accordance with the international norms and standards established in the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The Mission will begin to set up at the end of November, the regional coordinators will be deployed throughout all the regions of the country on December 1st, and the observers will begin their work on December 3rd.

During the signing ceremony of the agreement, the Secretary General of the hemispheric Organization, José Miguel Insulza, highlighted “the level of civility with which the people of Costa Rica” elect their leaders. “We are talking about a country that has the courtesy to always welcome us with kindness for their elections,” he said. “Our Missions never face any difficulties there, everything is made available to them with ease, and I am sure it will be the same way this time around.”

He also highlighted the uniqueness of this year’s municipal elections in that country. “In the first place, it will be the first time that the parties registered at the cantonal level will have access to State funds, and in the second place, this election will see for the first time the application of the principles of parity and alternation in the lists of candidates as measures to foment the political participation of women, initiatives that are introduced for the first time at the hemispheric level.”

The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the OAS, Ambassador José Enrique Castillo, said the work of the OAS in matters of electoral observation is quickly gaining in recognition. “To us it is always of great satisfaction to know we can rely on the electoral observation of the OAS in the internal processes of our country,” he said. “The OAS observation has become a true process of accreditation of electoral processes, an accreditation broadly recognized and one that more and more countries seek to certify the regularity and certainty of electoral processes. And in our case it is particularly important that, proud as we are of our democratic system, this gives it a further seal of reliability, an unquestionable seal, an indisputable seal we feel very good about.”

During the elections of December 5th, 2.8 millon Costa Ricans will elect around 5,000 individuals to public office, among them mayors, trustees and district council members.

The Head of the EOM, María Emma Mejía, will sign on November 15 with the Supreme Electoral Court of Costa Rica in San José the Agreement on the Procedure of Observation of the Elections.

This Mission of Electoral Observation will be the second time this year the OAS deploys an EOM in Costa Rica, the first one in February for the general elections, and the tenth time the hemispheric Organization is present for an electoral process in the country. Since 1962, the OAS has followed and/or observed a total of nine electoral processes in Costa Rica, including presidential and legislative elections, and a referendum on the free trade agreement.

A photo gallery of the event is available here

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

Reference: E-433/10