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The OAS and Panama Sign Agreement for the Observation Mission to the 2014 General Elections

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Government of Panama today signed an agreement that stipulates the functions of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) that will accompany the general election to be held on May 4, 2014 in the Central American country and that will be led by Peruvian lawyer Lourdes Flores Nano.

The OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, and the Permanent Representative of Panama, Arturo Ulises Vallarino, signed the agreement and highlighted the vast experience and prestige of the regional Organization in electoral matters and its work as a key player for ensuring public trust in elections throughout the region, a task it has carried out for the last 50 years.

Secretary General Insulza recalled that since 1978, the OAS "has been following the progress of democracy in Panama through the deployment of electoral observation missions." The number of electoral processes accompanied is seven, the most recent of which were the referendum on the Panama Canal Expansion in October 2006 and the general elections of 2009. "This indicates that we have had a fairly substantive participation in the country and now we hope to have an important role and we count on the cooperation of all of you for the success and strengthening of democracy in Panama," he said.

The leader of the hemispheric institution explained that in May he received the official invitation from the Government of Panama for the deployment of a long-term mission to cover the development of the various stages of the electoral process, and not just the days before the vote. In this regard, he stressed the importance of "seeking the right person to direct it and that is why I have appointed as Chief of Mission the Peruvian lawyer Lourdes Flores Nano, who has had an outstanding academic and political career."

Ambassador Vallarino thanked Secretary General Insulza for his prompt response to the invitation of the Panamanian government to have a mission for the elections in which Panamanians will elect the President and Vice President, 71 representatives to the National Assembly of Deputies and all municipal posts.

"The OAS experience is invaluable to the Latin American countries that have had electoral observation missions over the past 50 years," said the Panamanian diplomat, who highlighted the benefits of starting with the EOM preparations well in advance and also gave a brief overview of pre-election events. "I'm sure the Electoral Tribunal, which is the authority on this matter, as well as the central government will accept the OAS recommendations to continue to strengthen the representative, democratic and republican process, which we have been working on since 1990," he said.

While in Panama, the EOM will seek to collaborate with government and electoral authorities and with the general public to contribute to the integrity, transparency and reliability of the process. After the electoral stage, the EOM will make a series of recommendations to help improve the Panamanian electoral system.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-293/13