The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) has deployed an Election Monitoring Mission (EOM) to observe the General Elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) on 7 October 2018. The delegation included Hon. Badreddine Abdelkafi, Vice-President of the Tunisian Parliament and Hon. Ammar Moussi, Member of the National Assembly of Algeria, accompanied by the staff of the PAM Secretariat.
The PAM delegation observed the activities of the Municipal/City Election Commission and of the polling stations in the three phases of the process: distribution of the polling material; voting; and counting of ballots. After receiving a list of 988 polling stations in Sarajevo and surrounding area, the PAM delegation prepared an itinerary, which allowed the team to visit different areas of Sarajevo, Mostar and Ilijaš Municipalities.
The PAM delegates also attended the Seminar for international observers, organized by the Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH, at the Parliamentary Assembly in Sarajevo. International delegates were welcomed by Dr Branko Petrićbriefed, President of the of the BiH CEC, and were briefed by members of the Commission on the preparations for the 2018 General Elections, the Election system of BiH, the Election Day and the rights and obligations of the international observers.
During Election Day, the PAM team was able to follow the process without restrictions and were free to move and choose the polling stations to visit. They were warmly welcomed and received also explanations and clarifications they sought on location.
While considering the voting process generally positively the PAM delegates have also submitted a number of recommendations aimed at improving transparency and practical issues.