See related documentsElection observation report
| Doc. 8254
| 03 November 1998
Observation of parliamentary elections in the Slovak Republic (25-26 September 1998)
Author(s): Ad hoc Committee of the Bureau
Rapporteur : Mr Franciszek ADAMCZYK,
Poland
Origin - Publication of this
report was audiorised by the Bureau at its meeting of 3 November
1998. 1999 - First part-session
1. Introduction
1. At its meeting on 26 June 1998, the Bureau of the
Assembly decided to set up an ad hoc committee to observe the legislative
elections to be held in the Slovak Republic on 25 and 26 September
1998.
2. In a letter dated 27 August, the President of the Slovak delegation
to the Parliamentary Assembly, Mr Slobodník, informed the Clerk
of the Assembly that the President of the National Council of the
Slovak Republic and the Slovak delegation had taken into account
the decision of the Bureau to send an observation team to these
elections. The Assembly was informed that the visit of observers,
including those from international organisations, would be organised
by the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry in co-operation with the
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the
OSCE (Appendix I).
Composition
3. The ad hoc committee was composed as follows:
- Mr Adamczyk, Chairman/Rapporteur,
Poland, EPP/CD Mr Akcali, Turkey, EDG
- Mrs Fehr, Switzerland, LDR
- Mrs Guirado, Spain, SOC
- Mr Kandare, Croatia , EPP/CD
- Mr Leoni, Rapporteur of the Monitoring Committee, Italy,
SOC,
- Mr Nagy, Hungary. LDR
- Mr Silay, Turkey, EDG Mr Tan, Turkey. SOC
4. Mr Dronov. Head of Division. Office of the Clerk of the Assembly,
Ms Hügel, Administrator, and Mr Rössle. Deputy Head of the Press
and Public Relations Department, accompanied the delegation.
Preparations for the election
monitoring
5. The ad hoc committee used the good offices of the OSCE for
deployment and programming. A separate programme of meetings and
briefings was prepared for the tri-parliamentary observers, who
met with representatives of the Central Electoral Committee, Ministry
of the Interior, Supreme Court, as well as political parties running
for parliament.
6. The ad hoc committee met in Strasbourg on 22 September to
elect its chairman. The chairman was also appointed rapporteur.
2. Political
background
7. The Slovak Republic became an independent state on
1 January 1993, following the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak
Federal Republic and the emergence of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The country's population of 5.4 million comprises a sizeable (11%)
Hungarian minority
.
A further 4.8% to 10% belong to the Roma minority (depending on
sources of estimates). Slovakia has been a full member of the Council
of Europe since 30 June 1993. The monitoring procedure of Slovakia's
compliance with obligations and commitments it subscribed to when
joining the Council of Europe is currently under way.
8. Slovakia is a candidate for membership of the European Union.
However, the European Commission concluded in 1997 that Slovakia
did not fulfil in a satisfactory manner the political conditions
for membership owing to the instability of the functioning of its
democracy.
The National Council
9. The unicameral parliament is called the National
Council of the Republic of Slovakia. It has 150 seats. Following
the parliamentary elections of 1994, the Movement for Democratic
Slovakia (HDZS) held 61 seats in the National Council. The total
number of seats held by the ruling coalition was 83.
10. Because of deep divisions in the parliament, it failed to
elect the President of the republic following the expiration of
the term of office of the previous incumbent. The post of the President
of the republic has therefore been vacant since March 1998, when
President Kovac's term ended. The Prime Minister, Mr Meciar, member of
the HZDS, exercised most presidential powers.
The amended electoral law
11. Elections to the National Council of the Republic
of Slovakia are held on the basis of universal, equal and direct
suffrage by secret ballot, pursuant to the principle of proportional
representation.
12. The right to vote in the National Council is given to those
citizens who have attained the age of 18 years. Any citizen who
has reached 21 years can be a candidate for the National Council.
13. The territory of the Slovak Republic represents one single
constituency.
14. The electoral law was last amended on 20 May 1998, only four
months ahead of the parliamentary elections. The law provides for
a 5% registration threshold.
15. The amended law further extended the 5% threshold to individual
parties forming a pre-election coalition and introduced a ban on
joint lists of candidates. The loophole that existed in the past
allowing the formation of such coalitions by smaller parties that
would otherwise not qualify for registration was therefore eliminated.
16. The wording of the amended law caused some concern and confusion
among the opposition parties. It was asserted that the aim of the
amended law was to effectively preclude the viability of pre-electoral
coalitions through excluding a joint list of candidates represented
on a common ballot.
17. A further source of concern associated with the new law was
its Article 23 that prohibits election campaigning by private media
during the period of the electoral campaign, commencing thirty days
prior to the election day.
18. The new legislation further increased the authority of the
Ministry of the Interior which was given some election organisation
and administration powers. This transfer of responsibilities from
full-fledged, multiparty electoral committees to an institution
that is a part of the incumbent executive administration was a particular source
of concerns to critics at home and abroad.
19. Despite united opposition protests, putting into question
the constitutionality of the amended law, the ruling coalition passed
the law by a simple parliamentary majority.
20. A parliamentary group of thirty-five deputies (SDK) filed,
on 30 June 1998, a motion to the Constitutional Court alleging that
some provisions of the amended law run counter to the Slovak Constitution
and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Constitutional
Court announced that it would only rule on the motion after the
election is over.
21. On 9 August, the ruling HZDS approached the Supreme Court
with a proposal to cancel the registration of SDK, the main contender,
claiming that SDK still remains a coalition, rather than a party,
and has to ran as five individual parties, and that the threshold
requirement should apply to each of them. In a show of defiance, Slovakia's
Supreme Court rejected the HZDS proposal 14 August 1998, displaying
the judiciary's independence of the executive.
3. The electoral campaign
22. According to the existing legislation, the election
campaign period begins thirty days before the election and finishes
forty-eight hours before the beginning of the vote. All political
parties are guaranteed equal access to the mass media. Registered
political parties can conduct election campaigns only on state-owned
radio and television.
23. Altogether, seventeen political parties were registered to
run in the election.
24. In the run-up to the election, eight opposition parties have
merged into two new parties. The SDK registered itself as a single
party. Three Hungarian parties also merged to form the Hungarian
Coalition Party (SMK).
25. While conducted in the overall tense atmosphere of suspicion
and mistrust, the campaign was however not marked by any serious
incidents, let alone violence.
26. No party has forwarded any serious complaints about interference
or intimidation during rallies. In general, political issues were
not emphasised, the criticism rather tended to be levelled at the
personalities of the contenders. The opposition did, however, raise
some complaints regarding misuse of public infrastructure by the
ruling coalition, as well as the use of foreign celebrities in public
appearances of the Prime Minister. Another disturbing development
was negative official television coverage of the activities of international election
observers that put into question the integrity of their reporting.
27. Contenders' mutual recriminations focused primarily on misuse
of electronic media. The opposition claimed that the reporting on
the state-owned television was heavily biased in favour of the ruling
coalition. Supporters of the HZDS normally retorted that all contenders
were given equal airtime and, in their rum, accused the opposition
of violating Article 23 of the electoral law effectively confining
all campaigning to state-owned media. In fact, at one point, on
these grounds a popular private television channel, the only serious alternative
to the state channel, was fined to the tune of US$ 110 000.
28. While, indeed, formally all contending parties were allocated
equal airtime on the state-owned electronic media, there is no denying
that the state television offered coverage that was a lot more favourable
to the ruling coalition. By the same token, the private channel
mentioned above, was undeniably campaigning for the opposition.
By contrast, state-owned radio was a lot more balanced in its coverage
and made an effort to distance itself from active campaigning. On
the whole, in the rather confusing set-up, media provided pluralistic information
and the electorate could form their views based on their own experiences
and a wide range of political opinions and media comments.
4. Observation of
the elections
29. The peculiarity of elections in Slovakia, that is
a tribute to the old Czechoslovak tradition, is that election covers
two days. In the atmosphere of mistrust that preceded the election,
this gave rise to widespread concerns that ballot boxes left sealed
overnight in polling stations could be tampered with. As a result,
overall turnout was somewhat higher on the second day.
30. The Assembly observers split into five groups with a view
to covering various regions of the country. Special attention was
paid to monitoring those regions that could potentially be problematic,
particularly in areas inhabited by ethnic Hungarians.
31. On the whole, voting was well organised, with a remarkably
high voter turnout. Members of local electoral committees displayed
professionalism and confidence in the process. The procedure was meticulously
followed, the law and order situation could be characterised as
exemplary. Even though they represented different parties, members
of electoral committees appeared to have full confidence in each
other, there were no signs of tensions among them. Our observers
were treated politely, if, at times, too cautiously. The sometimes
excessive cautiousness should probably be attributed to the negative
official media coverage of international observers immediately before
the elections. All necessary co-operation, clarifications and information
were provided to our observers at all times. For their part, voters
showed their appreciation of the presence of international observers.
The vote count at the polling stations was conducted efficiently
and in full compliance with rules and regulations.
32. There were, certainly, some irregularities, such as family
voting and lack of clarity regarding the regulations covering the
methods of applying seals to ballot boxes. However, against the
general backdrop these should be considered as insignificant and
having little or no impact on the result of the voting. The only really
regrettable aspect was absence of local observers at most polling
stations, given that they had been denied formal registration ahead
of the elections. International observers used every opportunity
to explain to electoral officials that the presence of domestic
observers could only help build confidence and enhance transparency.
33. Texts and statements made in Bratislava by the Chairman of
the election monitoring mission are reproduced in Appendices II
and III, the Council of Europe press release of 27 September 1998
containing preliminary assessment of the election constitutes Appendix
IV.
34. Preliminary assessments of elections made by partner observers
from the OSCE (VI 6) and the European Parliament do not differ in
substance from those of this delegation. On 30 September, the Presidency of
the European Union made a declaration welcoming the conduct of the
poll (Appendix V).
5. Field co-operation
with the OSCE
35. Being the only international organisation formally
invited to monitor the elections, the OSCE had to take care of accreditation
of all international observers, including those from the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Union. This created
the impression that the overall operation was essentially an OSCE
exercise, an impression fostered by the head of the OSCE election
observation mission. President of the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly
and personal representative of the OSCE's Chairman-in-Office, Ms
Helle Degn.
36. As far as technical preparations are concerned, the OSCE/ODIHR
has done an excellent job. acting very efficiently and catering
to the needs of parliamentary observers with due attention and respect.
6. Conclusions
37. The parliamentary election in Slovakia turned out
a resounding vote for democracy, despite all the tensions and suspicions
of the pre-election period.
38. With a turnout of 84.24%, the vote has testified to the growing
belief of the Slovak people in democratic values and representative
democracy.
39. On the whole, the election can be qualified as free and, despite
some grievances of the pre-election period, fair. The results of
the election undeniably reflect the will of the Slovak people (for
final results, see Appendix VII).
40. Even though HZDS remains the biggest single party represented
in the parliament, it has lost its monopoly on power. The combined
opposition to Mr Meciar's government commands a three to five majority in
the parliament. It can therefore form a new government, elect a
new speaker and modify the constitution so that the president is
elected by direct ballot.
41. On a different key, based on the experience from this election
monitoring operation some ideas can be brought to the attention
of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE). As a general principle, it may be recommended that in the
future, where there is an interest in observing an election, PACE
should seek an explicit invitation from the state concerned to do
so. Co-operation accorded by the relevant PACE national delegation
is also a crucial factor. By contrast, monitoring through the good
offices of another international organisation entrusted with the
whole process by the host state tends to put PACE's identity into
jeopardy, a situation to be avoided.
Appendix 1 – Letter from
the Chairman of the Slovak delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe, Dušan Slobodnik, to Mr Bruno Haller, Clerk
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg
(open)
Bratislava, 27 August 1998
Dear Mr Haller,
I would like to inform you that the President of the National
Council of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak delegation to the
Parliamentary' Assembly of lire Council of Europe have taken into
account the decision of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe to send the observation team for the parliamentary
elections in the Slovak Republic taking place on 25 and 26 September
1998.
The stay of the observers from the OSCE member states and
international organisations is organised by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Slovak Republic in co-operation with OSCE/ODIHR.
In this connection, allow me to express my conviction that
the parliamentary, as well as local elections in the Slovak Republic
will be free and democratic and I believe that all observers will
find out this fact as true.
In case of need, it will be my pleasure to provide the observers
with all the information they need.
Yours sincerely,
Dušan Slobodnik
Appendix 2 – Statement by
Mr Franciszek Adamczyk, co-Chairman of the tri-parliamentary election monitoring
mission to Slovakia at a joint press conference
(open)
Bratislava, 26 September 1998, 6 p.m.
There has been much criticism, mainly from the international
media, about the preparations for the parliamentary elections in
Slovakia. Since the new election law has just been introduced in
Slovakia (about four months earlier in the year), these elections
prove crucial to the country's future.
As observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe, and part of the tri-parliamentary election monitoring
mission, we can only state our observations based on our experiences
during the past few days, speaking to representatives of various
political parties, the Supreme Court, the Ministry of the Interior, the
Central Elections Commission and visiting a large number of polling
stations.
We largely share the views of the other observers as presented
by representatives of the OCSE Parliamentary Assembly and we will
continue to monitor the post-election developments. The Rapporteur
of the Parliamentary Assembly's Monitoring Committee for Slovakia
is Mr Carlo Leoni, a member of our delegation who will submit his
report on this subject to the Assembly in the near future. The monitoring
procedure should be regarded as a co-operative exercise aimed at
assisting the country concerned to attain the high standards it
subscribed to when joining the Council of Europe. All of these developments
will then be taken into account.
Slovakia assumed specific commitments and obligations when
it became a full member of the Council of Europe in 1993.
Based on what we have seen and heard so far, we can state
that rules have generally been respected. Staff in the polling stations
have acquired experience necessary for future elections. We hope,
that the voter's confidence in the electoral system will increase,
which will make it difficult to slow down the democratic reform process.
Appendix 3 – Statement by
Mr Franciszek Adamczyk, co-Chairman of the tri-parliamentary election monitoring
mission to Slovakia at a joint press conference
(open)
Bratislava, 27 September 1998
Ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to reconfirm, on behalf of the
parliamentary delegation of the Council of Europe, the initial findings
of the international election monitoring representatives in Slovakia.
It is encouraging that the voter turnout was so high. This testifies
to the belief of the electorate in fundamental democratic values
and representative democracy.
Without prejudging the outcome of the counting of the votes,
it may be stated that the elections do, in effect, reflect the will
of the people. Despite the criticism, these elections represent
a serious attempt by the authorities to have a fair electoral process.
This is not the end. The international community will continue
the co-operative monitoring of developments in Slovakia.
A detailed report on this election monitoring operation will
be prepared shortly by our ad hoc committee. This report will then
be brought to the attention of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all of those who provided
assistance to and co-operated with the representatives of our ad
hoc committee during their stay in Slovakia.
Appendix 4 – Council of Europe
press release: orderly elections in Slovakia, say Parliamentary Assembly
observers
(open)
Bratislava, 27 September 1998 The Parliamentary
Assembly delegation from the Council of Europe, participating in
a tri-parliamentary election observation mission (Council of Europe
and OSCE Parliamentary Assemblies, European Parliament, in co-operation
with the OSCE/ ODHIR) during the parliamentary elections in Slovakia
on 25 and 26 September 1998, declared today that the conduct of
elections in general complied with basic democratic principles,
in spite of international media criticism throughout the election
campaign.
Delegation head Franciszek Adamczyk (EEP-CD, Poland) said:
"The election campaign has been controversial, leading to strong
tension among parties. However, the way things were conducted -
orderly, well-organised, professionally and with due respect for
existing standards -made them an important step towards a more solid
parliamentary system. The experience gained during the voting period
will certainly contribute to making democracy in Slovakia more efficient
and transparent."
The Parliamentary Assembly will discuss the report on the
elections shortly.
Slovakia has been a member of the Council of Europe since
1993.
Appendix 5 – Council of the
European Union press release: declaration by the Presidency on behalf
of the European Union on Slovakia
(open)
30 September 1998
The European Union welcomes the clear commitment of the Slovak
electorate to the democratic process as expressed in the high level
of participation of voters in the parliamentary elections held on
25 and 26 September 1998. It takes note with satisfaction of the
preliminary assessment by the OSCE observer mission that the elections
as such were carried out in an apparently correct and acceptable
manner.
The European Union welcomes the acceptance of the election
results by all political parties and appreciates preparations to
form a stable government committed to the rule of law, democratic
principles and the stability of political institutions. It calls
upon all political forces involved, including the present government,
to adopt a constructive attitude.
The European Union recalls its longstanding commitment to
the process of integration of the Slovak Republic. The manner in
which the parliamentary elections were conducted constitutes a positive
step towards the integration of the Slovak Republic into European
structures. Bearing in mind the political priorities enumerated in
the Accession Partnership, the European Union encourages the future
government and parliament of the Slovak Republic to rapidly address
those shortcomings which have so far hampered the Slovak Republic's accession
process, thereby renewing its dynamism.
Appendix 6 – Election observation
mission Slovak Republic, September 1998
(open)
Summary
Joint preliminary
statement issued on 27 September 1998
This is the preliminary statement of the Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) election observation
mission for the 25 and 26 September Slovak parliamentary elections.
This assessment is based upon the reports of 25 core staff and long-term
observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights, and 206 short-term observers including 38 from the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly, 15 from the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe and 6 from die European Parliament. On election
day, observers visited approximately 1 700 polling stations.
The OSCE observer mission was led by Ms Helle Degn, President
of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Special Representative of
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, and Mr Kare Vollan, the OSCE on-site
co-ordinator and head of the ODIHR observation mission, which was
established in early August.
Summary
of conclusions
The election was generally conducted in a peaceful and orderly
manner. No serious incidents were reported during the elections,
and the voter turn-out was very high. The election administration
worked in an efficient manner, and the polling station commissions
managed during the election days to apparently conduct a technically
correct election. Slovak citizens participated in large numbers
in the democratic process on the election days.
Although an atmosphere of political polarisation led to a
lack of confidence in the overall process by many Slovak citizens,
the election as such was carried out in an apparently correct and
acceptable manner.
However, the following issues did raise serious concern:
- Although voters were able to
receive information from a range of sources supporting various political parties,
state television failed to fulfil its obligation of giving a balanced
picture of the campaign. As the only source of televised information
that reaches the entire country, state television broadcasts – which carry
a special responsibility for being balanced – largely favoured the
incumbent government. At the same time, campaign coverage on the
main private television station was based in favour of opposition parties.
- Article 23 of the election law raised serious concern
regarding freedom of speech because of restriction on campaigning
beyond the time allocated to party promotion on state television
and radio. The interpretation and consistent application of this
law created constant difficulties.
- The Central Electoral Commission was established in such
a way that its political composition made objective decision making
very difficult.
- Last May the election law was changed to the effect that
pre-election coalitions ceased to be a viable alternative for previous
coalition partners. It is noted with concern that the registration
of the parties replacing the coalitions was met with resistance
by almost half of the Central Election Commission. Fortunately,
the Supreme Court upheld the parties' registration.
- It is regrettable that domestic observers were allowed
only into some polling stations, and that the Central Election Commission
did not allow the domestic observers to follow the count. Allowing
such observers would have increased transparency and enhanced confidence
in the process.
- It is also regrettable that the OSCE encountered some
delays in receiving formal accreditation and was subjected to unfair
criticism by state television.
No final assessment can be drawn until the vote count and
verification procedure have been completed, and the final results
have been published. A comprehensive report will be issued in the
coming weeks which will contain more detailed analysis and recommendations.
The OSCE and the international community will continue monitoring
the post election period.
Appendix 7 – Results of the
elections
(open)
Turnout: 84.24%
|
Party votes
|
(%)
|
mandates
|
|
Movement for Democratic
Slovakia (HZDS)
|
27.00%
|
43
|
|
Slovak Democratic Coalition
(SDK)
|
26.33%
|
42
|
|
Party of the Democratic
Left (SDL)
|
14.66%
|
23
|
|
Hungarian Coalition Party
(SMK)
|
9.12%
|
15
|
|
Slovak National Party
(SNS)
|
9.07%
|
14
|
|
Party of Civic Understanding
(SOP)
|
8.01%
|
13
|
The other parties had less than 5% and therefore cannot be
represented in parliament.
