OSCE monitors start Polish mission ahead of presidential vote
Representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will soon start their monitoring mission in the run-up to the Polish presidential election planned for mid-May.
The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) mission is headed by Dunja Mijatovic, a former Council of Europe's human rights commissioner.
At a press conference in Warsaw on Monday, Mijatovic said the ODIHR had already carried out six election monitoring missions in Poland.
Twelve Warsaw-based experts specialising in legislation, election law, campaign financing and the media as well as 16 long-term monitors will begin their mission this coming Saturday across various regions of Poland.
The monitors will focus on the pre-election weeks, the election day and the post-election period. They will prepare their first report two weeks before the presidential vote and will disclose their preliminary conclusions one day after the ballot.
The final report will be published a few months after the election and will include recommendations for future ballots in Poland so that they meet international standards.
Established in 1991 and headquartered in Warsaw, the ODIHR promotes human rights, democracy, tolerance and free and fair elections across more than 50 OSCE member states.
ODIHR has so far run 450 election monitoring missions around the world.
Poland's presidential ballot is scheduled for May 18, with a potential runoff on June 1 if no candidate secures an outright majority in the first round. Poles will elect their next president for a five-year term. (PAP)
jd/mmr/ ał/
