Preface
Preface
The European Union was invited by the government of Madagascar to deploy an election observation mission (EOM) for the parliamentary election on 15 December 2002. The official name of the mission was La Mission d`Observation Electorale de L’UE Madagascar. The aim of the mission was to “strengthen the transparency and the confidence in the election process, through presence and information work performed by European observers.”[1]
The background for the invitation to the EU was the anticipation that the parliamentary elections would mean an important step forward towards political stabilisation in Madagascar. The country just came out of a serious political and economic crisis following the contested and controversial presidential elections on 16 December 2001. To speed up the political stabilisation process and boost the economy of the country, president Ravalomanana engaged rapidly in organising the anticipated parliamentary elections.[2]
The core team of the EU EOM arrived in the capital Antananarivo on 6 November 2002 and counted six election experts. The mission was led by Ms Tana de Zulueta (Italy), with Mr Francisco Cobos Flores (Spain) as Deputy Head of Mission.
16 Long Term Observers (LTOs) were deployed to the six provinces of the country. And on Election Day 89 Short Term Observers (STOs) covered 465 polling stations out of a total number of 17037 polling stations throughout the country.
Two LTOs were recruited to the election observation mission by the NORDEM Stand-by Force, at the request from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The observers from Norway were Britt Schumann and Oddvin Forbord. They were deployed with the two LTO-teams covering Antananarivo Rural (rural, remote constituencies of Antananarivo Province) and Antananarivo Ville, covering the central, more urban constituencies of the Province of Antananarivo, the city and its immediate surroundings.
All opinions expressed in the report are the author’s responsibility and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights.
The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights / NORDEM
University of Oslo
April 2003
[1] Dossier d’information pour la presse, Antananarivo, 11 November 2002.
[2] EU press release, Brussels, 25 October 2002.