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OAS OBSERVERS ARRIVE IN BOLIVIA

  June 26, 2006

LA PAZ, Bolivia, Responding to an invitation from the government of Bolivia, the Organization of American States (OAS) began deploying a team of observers that will monitor the electoral process leading to the July 2 vote to elect representatives to the Constituent Assembly and to vote in a National Binding Referendum.

Ambassador Horacio Serpa of Colombia is heading the Electoral Observation Mission which includes 30 observers from 14 OAS member countries. Serpa, who will begin his duties on Tuesday, also headed the observation team during the presidential elections last December.

During these elections, the observers will be present in the nine departments of Bolivia. The Mission, which was installed in the city of La Paz on June 22, is made up of a group of technical, electoral, legal and communications specialists.

During the next few days, the OAS team will meet with representatives from the executive and legislative powers, electoral organizations (National Electoral Court and Departmental Electoral Courts), candidates from the different political parties, members of the press and civil society, as well as national and international institutions related to the electoral process. The Mission will issue a press release with observations and subsequently it will present a report to the OAS Permanent Council.

The Electoral Observation Mission is carried out through the OAS Department for the Promotion of Democracy of the Secretariat for Political Affairs, and with the financial support from the governments of the United States, Canada and Spain.


Reference: MOE-BO-1E