AFRICAN UNION OBSERVER MISSION FOR THE LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS OF 10 MARCH 2019 IN THE REPUBLIC OF GUINEA BISSAU

The African Union (AU) Commission announces the arrival of an Electoral Observation Mission, as part of the parliamentary elections of 10 March 2019 in the Republic of Guinea Bissau. Following the Government's invitation, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, His Excellency Moussa Faki Mahamat, decided to deploy this Mission to monitor and report on the conduct of these elections.

The African Union Observer Mission (AU-OOM) arrived in Bissau on 3 March and will remain there until 16 March 2019.

The EOM-AU is led by His Excellency Joaquim Rafael BRANCO, former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe. It includes thirty (30) observers. It is composed of an Ambassador to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Pan-African parliamentarians, heads of election management bodies, members of African civil society organizations and African electoral experts. These observers come from twenty-one (21) countries, representative of the geographical diversity of the continent, namely: Angola, Benin, Burkina Fasso, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Gabon, Cape Verde, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.

The Mission will observe these elections in the light of the relevant provisions of the 2012 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the 2002 OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, the 2002 AU Guidelines for Election Observation and Monitoring Missions, and the existing legal framework for the conduct of parliamentary elections in the Republic of Guinea Bissau.

Observation will focus on the fairness, transparency and peaceful conduct of the elections, including the final days of the election campaign and the voting and counting process on polling day.

The Mission will meet with the country's State authorities, defence and security forces officials, electoral institutions, political parties, the media, leaders of civil society organizations and representatives of the international community present in Bissau. It will also interact with the other Observer Missions deployed in the Republic of Guinea Bissau on the same occasion.

The Mission will be deployed in the nine (9) regions of the country, namely: Autonomous sector of Bissau, Biombo, Bafata, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali, Cacheu, Bolama Bijagos.

The Mission will endeavour to observe the conduct of these elections honestly, independently, professionally and impartially.

The Mission will make an opening statement on 12 March 2019 at 17 at the Ledger Plaza Hotel. It will decide on the conduct of these elections and, if necessary, make recommendations to those involved in the electoral process in the Republic of Guinea Bissau. A final report will provide a detailed and more comprehensive assessment of the conduct of the elections.

The Mission is located at the Ledger Plaza Hotel. Its secretariat can be reached at the following number: +245956364606.

The EOM-AU thanks the Authorities of the Republic of Guinea Bissau for the invitation addressed to the AU and for all the measures they have taken to facilitate its work on the ground.

Done in Bissau, on 05 March 2019

For the Mission,
His Excellency Joaquim Rafael BRANCO, Head of Mission