AFRICAN UNION DEPLOYS AN EXPERT ELECTORAL OBSERVATION MISSION TO THE RE-RUN OF PRESIDENTIAL AND THE GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS IN 13 POLLING STATIONS OF THE ISLAND ANJOUAN - 11TH MAY 2016

ARRIVAL STATEMENT

Moroni, Union of the Comoros May 9th, 2016: The African Union Commission (AUC) announces the arrival of its Electoral Experts Mission on 7th May 2016 in Moroni (Comoros) for the re-run of the presidential and gubernatorial elections scheduled for 11th May 2016 in 13 polling stations in the autonomous Island of Anjouan.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, HE Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma received an invitation from the Government of the Union of Comoros and deployed an Expert Mission to observe and report on the conduct of the re-run elections.

The Mission is led by Honourable Barrister Barthelemy KERE, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission of Burkina Faso. The team comprised 20 electoral experts from 15 African countries[1] and is supported by experts from the AUC and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA).

The Mission's mandate is to have an independent, impartial and objective observation of the 11th May 2016 polls. The assessment of the Mission will be based on the provisions of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted in 2007 and entered into force in 2012; the OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa 2002; the AU Guidelines for Election Observation and Monitoring Missions of 2002, relevant international instruments governing election observation, as well as the legal framework for the presidential and governorship elections of the Union of The Comoros. Based on these instruments, the AU Mission will assess the regularity, transparency, fairness and the proper conduct of the electoral process.

The Mission deployed to the Island of Anjouan on 9th May 2016 to observe and assess the end of the election campaign, the conduct of polling and all processes leading to the announcement of provisional results by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The Mission will remain in the country until 19th May 2016.

The Mission will present its preliminary findings on the conduct of the election and make recommendations at the end of the elections at a press conference on Friday, 13th May 2016 at 11:00 am at Johanna Livingstone Hotel in Anjouan. The Mission will publish its final report containing detailed analysis of the conduct of the electoral process in the Union of The Comoros at a later date.

The Mission’s Secretariat is located at Hotel Itsandra in Moroni.

The Mission wishes to thank the authorities of the Union of The Comoros for all the support they have rendered to facilitate its work.

Done at Moroni, 9th May 2016

For the Mission,

Honourable Barrister Barthélémy KERE

Head of Mission

For further information, please contact:

Karine Kakasi Siaba | Email: Kakasik@africa-union.org

Dr Job Akuni | Email: akunij@africa-union.org|

Democracy and Electoral Assistance Unit (DEAU) | Department of Political Affairs

For more information:

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org I Site internet: www.au.int I Addis-Ababa | Ethiopia

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[1] Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, Gabon, Madagascar, Mauritius, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo and Tunisia.

Directorate of Information and Communication
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