The new European Union ambassador presented her credentials to the President of the Republic yesterday. His first exchanges with the press focused on the report on the electoral management bodies, published by the electoral observation mission last week.
Take action. It is with this highly diplomatic expression that the new ambassador of the European Union (EU), Isabelle Delattre, replied to the press yesterday at the Iavoloha State Palace. An answer given to the question on the evaluation report published by the EU Election Observation Mission (EU-MO), last week.
It was to be expected since the subject had the effect of a bomb. An explosion that continues to make people talk within the political microcosm. The report of the EOM-UE then took the good part of the first exchanges between the Malagasy press and the new ambassador Delattre. ‘The European Union and the European Union Delegation can only take note of this report,’ she said. A formula that allows you not to take a frank position and thus avoid offending sensitivities.
It is indeed difficult for the ambassador who carries the official voice of the European institutions to assert a frank position vis-à-vis the document published last week. Without concessions and frontal, the EOM – EU did not go by the back of the spoon to affirm what it considers to be a flaw in the electoral system. She stresses her reservations about the real independence of the High Constitutional Court (HCC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI). In question, the fact that these entities are chaired by people close to power.
“Although the appointments of the presidents of the CENI and the HCC were made in compliance with the constitutional and legal provisions, the presence of people deemed close to power in positions that could influence the outcome of the elections does not strengthen voters’ confidence in the democratic process with a view to the 2023 elections”, supports the EOM – EU in its report. The document published last week focuses on the assessment of the application of its recommendations, following the observation of the 2018 elections.
In addition to questioning the independence of the CENI and the HCC, the mission also insists on the revision of the legal framework of the elections. “In the absence of reform of the legal framework, the shortcomings of the electoral legislation persist. The monitoring mission reiterates the importance of undertaking a comprehensive review of the electoral legal framework, in order to correct the weaknesses observed and to ensure the effective exercise of electoral rights”, adds the EOM – EU.
Lots of construction
“Take note”, avoids getting bogged down in possible controversies, with its diplomatic implications. However, this is not a dissociation from the report published by the EOM – EU either. The document was, all the more, shared with the press and then, publicly on social networks by the delegation of the European Union. The words of Isabelle Delattre even reinforce a few lines of the report of the Electoral Observation Mission.
The ambassador of the EU delegation refrained from addressing the thorny subject of the debate on the independence of the HCC and the CENI. Faced with journalists yesterday in Iavoloha, Isabelle Delattre spoke of priority issues, in which the governance program appears. “As part of the governance program that we have, we will also strive to support the proper holding of elections that we want to be transparent and inclusive,” she said. A point discussed during his interview with the President of the Republic, to hear him.
On her way, the diplomat recalls, “(…) what I remember is that in the context of the 2018 elections there was a whole series of recommendations that were made. They were presented, including to the CENI and they were well received”. These recommendations were formulated by the EOM – EU at the end of its observation mission of the 2018 elections. They reaffirmed them during their assessment mission in April and May. Although the EU delegation insists that the EOM – EU is an entity independent of the European institutions, the words of the ambassador echo those of the Mission, on certain points.
Giovanni Di Girolamo, the former EU ambassador, rightly multiplied his pleas for the application of the recommendations made by the EOM – EU, especially on the revision of the electoral legal framework. He also placed emphasis on transparency and the capping of campaign funds. Subjects repeated by Isabelle Delattre, yesterday, after the presentation of her credentials to the President, in Iavoloha. “There are actually a lot of projects and it’s in line with the recommendations that were made at the time,” she says.
“Whether it’s updating the electoral register, or progress in the legal framework. Whether it is, precisely, the legal framework concerning campaign financing, the transparency of campaign funds, or the implementation of this legal framework. So there are a lot of things to do. (…) We are also going to follow the evolution of the legislative framework which must be put in place to ensure the transparency and credibility of the elections”, maintains Ambassador Delattre.
The diplomat concludes, “so for me, one of the tasks that remains to be accomplished is to implement these recommendations (…) I hope that we will be able to advance some files with a view to the next elections”.