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International Monitors Arrive in Bosnia to Supervise Elections
‘Most fraudulent practices will probably take place before the elections rather than on election day. In new places of residence there will be a lot of attempts at manipulation’
By Mark Heinrich
Western organisers say the most they can hope for are "reasonably democratic" rather than "free and fair" elections on September 14 because of Bosnia's ethnic divisions and the predominance of repressive nationalist parties.
Long-term monitors were already arriving -- 30 would be in Bosnia by July 31 -- to concentrate on the campaign where the most irregularities would probably occur. Van Thijn referred, for example, to reports that authorities in the separatist Serb entity covering half of Bosnia were denying humanitarian aid to refugees who intended to vote on the Muslim-Croat federation side where they once lived.
"Most fraudulent practices will probably take place before the elections rather than on election day. In new places of residence there will be a lot of attempts at manipulation," he told a news conference. Alleged Serb irregularities were "a perfect example of intimidation of refugees," said van Thijn, a former Dutch interior minister and mayor of Amsterdam.
The main body of OSCE election observers would arrive on September 11. |
SARAJEVO, July 22 (Reuters) - International monitors are arriving to begin scrutinising the run-up to Bosnia's elections for attempts to manipulate and intimidate voters, election officials said on Monday.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is staging the elections, has created a Coordinator for International Monitoring (CIM) office to form a team of observers for both the campaign and election day. Edward van Thijn, the coordinator, said 1,200 to 1,500 observers would be recruited from OSCE and NATO member states and parliaments as well as non-government agencies worldwide.
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