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Press Release


OAS Mission of Electoral Accompaniment in Nicaragua

  November 7, 2011

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, communicated last night with the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, to greet the people and government of Nicaragua for the elections held yesterday, and highlighted the maturity demonstrated by the Nicaraguan people throughout the entire process.

He said that “despite certain predictions of possible tensions and acts of violence, the maturity of the Nicaraguan people and its vocation for peace marked the peaceful character with which the general elections closed on Sunday in the Central American country.”

The leadership of the Mission of Electoral Accompaniment (MEA/OAS) has held extensive dialogues with the electoral authorities on the inconveniences confronted during the implementation of its tasks yesterday. In this sense, beyond the comments to be included in the final report, the MEA has expressed to Nicaraguan authorities the indispensable need to guarantee a mission of electoral accompaniment the safety of its deployment, so that it may take place without difficulties. The MEA notes that this issue continues to be a matter of concern and will be relayed to the Permanent Council of the Organization.

After receiving the preliminary reports from the agents deployed in the field, the Mission wishes to offer a preview of the subject areas on which recommendations will be based, to be elaborated upon in the Mission’s final report: the identity card process, the makeup of the polling committees or “Juntas Receptoras de Votos,” the accreditation of witnesses, and the fulfillment of procedures related to the activities of international accompaniment agents.

The Mission extends an invitation to the different political actors and the citizenry in general to wait for the final results to be issued by the Supreme Electoral Council.

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

Reference: E-943/11