Doc. 9741

18 March 2003

Ad Hoc Committee for the Observation of the Parliamentary Elections in Monaco (9 February 2003)

Report

Bureau of the Assembly

Rapporteur: Mr Leonid Slutsky, Socialist Group

Introduction

1.       The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly decided, on 9 December 2002, to set up an ad hoc committee to observe the elections to the National Council (Parliament) of Monaco, which took place on 9 February 2003. The decision was taken in the context of Monaco’s 1998 application to join the Council of Europe and was based on the existing election observation guidelines, according to which election observation in an applicant country is part of the examination of its candidacy.

2.       Based on the proposals of the Assembly’s Political Groups, the ad hoc committee was composed as follows:

Socialist Group (SOC)

Mr Andrea MANZELLA, Italy

Rapporteur on accession, Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights

Mr Leonid SLUTSKY, Russia

Rapporteur on accession, Political Affairs Committee

Group of the European People’s Party (EPP)

Mrs Maria STOYANOVA, Bulgaria

Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group (LDR)

Mr Maximillian REIMANN, Switzerland

European Democratic Group (EDG)

Mr Marcin LIBICKI, Poland

Group of the Unified European Left (UEL)

Mr Pierre GOLDBERG, France

Secretariat:

Mr Vladimir DRONOV – Head, Interparliamentary Cooperation Unit

Ms Farida JAMAL - Administrative Assistant

3.       The ad hoc committee met from Friday 7 February till Monday 10 February 2003. It elected Mr Slutsky as Chairman and Rapporteur.

4.       In addition to observing the actual voting and vote count, committee members met with leaders of the lists of candidates in Monaco, including the President of the National Council, the Minister of State, representatives of the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal, as well as the Mayor of Monaco who is also Chair of the Electoral Committee. The committee work programme is reproduced in Appendix 1. On Election Day the ad hoc committee observed the actual voting in Monaco’s only polling station, the vote count following the closure of voting and visited the Government Election monitoring cellule. The text of the PACE press statement made in the wake of this observation exercise can be found in Appendix 2. This delegation was the only international observer delegation to the 9 February elections.

5.       The Election Day was characterized by a high voter turnout (about 80 %) and general calm. Interest in this election was heightened by the fact that it was the first election under an altered electoral law, amended to take into account Council of Europe accession requirements that have introduced hitherto non-existent elements of proportionality allowing political pluralism being represented in the National Council. In addition, the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 and the naturalised Monegasques were granted voting rights. The electoral officials displayed remarkable efficiency and professionalism. The vote count was conducted effectively and in full compliance with existing regulations. It was carried out in a unique atmosphere of absolute transparency where everyone could observe the process.

6.       The delegation wishes to thank the Parliament of Monaco and the Office of the Minister of State for their co-operation and logistical support provided to the ad hoc committee.

The Pre-Election Period

Legal framework

7.       All members of the outgoing National Assembly (single-Chamber Parliament) had been elected from the same list. The National Assembly in its previous composition was elected following two rounds of voting in 1998.

8.       Under the amended legislation, the new Parliament that was to be elected for a term of five years, in one round, on 9 February, was to have 24 members, eight of whom are reserved for the system of proportional representation. The mixed majority/proportional system was called for by the Parliamentary Assembly to ensure political pluralism in the National Assembly.

9.       According to the election law the administration of the election process was organised by the Monaco City Council, with the Mayor acting as Chair of the Electoral Committee.

10.       Constitutional amendments of 28 March 2002 carried out in the framework of the accession procedure give the National Council a more substantive role in initiating and amending legislation, in budgetary matters and in the ratification of certain international instruments.

Voters and Candidates

11.       All Monegasque nationals who are 18 and above are eligible to vote. To exercise the right to vote, a person has to show up at the country’s only polling station, produce an ID and a voter’s card. Existing legislation does not provide for voting by postal correspondance, mail-in voting or voting in the few Monegasque embassies abroad. People in hospitals are also disenfranchised as the procedure does not provide for mobile ballot boxes.

12.       The incumbent political entity (National and Democratic Union) and the unified opposition (Union for Monaco) have each put forward 24-member lists. No election-related complaints whatsoever were filed in the run-up to the election. In the particular situation of Monaco where a significant proportion of citizens know each other or of each other and where traditional allegiances run high, voters were allowed to mix candidates from the two lists, which could have created confusion, not least given that, in the opinion of the

observers, there has been no adequate awareness campaign (only a small newspaper article in the Monaco Hebdo) explaining this complicated system. However, in practice, no confusion has been recorded in this regard.

The run-up to the election and the election campaign

13.       The election campaign was low-key. The newly-introduced elements of proportionality, as well as voting by the younger voters (18-21 years of age) and naturalised Monegasques created some uncertainty, something that was unheard-of in the past. Since traditionally no opinion polls were conducted the outcome of the election was rather unclear even to the political class. Opposition was concerned over a possibility of fraud in a situation where the electoral committee was presided by the Mayor of Monaco, twin sister of the incumbent President of the National Assembly, Jean-Louis Campora. However life has proved them wrong.

The media

14.       In general, in the absence of specific legislation, coverage of the electoral campaign by the media was pluralistic. The media tried to observe equal allocation of attention to the two contesting camps, even though no law in Monaco requires it to do so.

Election Day

15.       PACE observers were able to get a comprehensive picture of the voting and the vote count. The elections were well organised and conducted in an orderly manner. Special exception was made for PACE observers to allow them to observe since, even though the existing legislation does not explicitly forbid observation by international observers, its provisions whereby only Monegasque nationals are allowed in the polling station during the voting in practice have the effect of ruling out any international observation.

16.       By contrast, the vote count was an exercise in an extraordinary transparency, by international standards, with a significant proportion of Monegasque nationals and residents present. Even in a country with a great tradition in direct democracy as, for example, in Switzerland, the voters have no access, as in Monaco, to the counting of votes.

Results of the ballot

17.       The results of the ballot (reproduced in Appendix 3) gave a result of alternance which, due to the lack of opinion polls, was not reflected in the local press. The opposition (Union for Monaco) won 21 out of 24 seats in the National Council. The introduction of proportionality nevertheless enabled the new opposition to obtain three seats in the Council. This situation would have been impossible if the electoral system had not been changed in order to ensure a better democratic representation.

Conclusions

18.       The committee agreed that, given the particular situation of Monaco, the election was largely in line with Council of Europe electoral standards. The Electoral commission conducted its work in an impartial and professional manner, displaying great transparency and efficiency.

19.       The ad hoc Committee is confident that these elections, based on a new electoral system, mark an important milestone along the road of Monaco’s accession to the Council of Europe.

Recommendations

20.       The complicated electoral system allowing the mixing of candidates from different political lists warrants an awareness campaign to better explain it, even though in practice this Delegation did not encounter any confusion on the part of the Monegasque electorate.

21.       While no problems have been reported concerning media behaviour, the Monegasque authorities may wish to consider introducing new media legislation that, inter alia, would specifically address media behaviour during the electoral campaign.

22.       It is imperative that laws on campaign funding and financial disclosure be adopted in the nearest future to enhance voter confidence in the political process.

APPENDIX 1

Press Release

Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit

Ref: 080a03

Tel: +33 3 88 41 33 35

Fax :+33 3 90 21 41 34

[email protected]

internet: www.coe.int/press

Monaco elections: "Well organised and well conducted" say Council of Europe observers

Monaco,10.02.2003 – The delegation of observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the 44-member Council of Europe concluded that the parliamentary elections held on 9 February in the Principality of Monaco were well organised and well conducted.

It welcomed the high turnout, which bore witness to voters' confidence in the democratic process.

The delegation was satisfied to note that the new electoral law, by introducing an element of proportionality into the system, will allow the opposition to be represented on the National Council. The Parliamentary Assembly had called for a reform of the electoral law in connection with the accession procedure.

The delegation held detailed discussions with all concerned by the elections: the leaders of the lists of candidates, the President of the National Council, representatives of the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal and the Mayor of Monaco.

The delegation members were able to observe voting and the counting of votes in Monaco's only polling station.

The delegation from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly was led by Leonid Slutsky (Russia, SOC). The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly observes elections in all states applying for membership and its assessment forms part of the examination of the application. Monaco applied to join in 1998.

* * *

Membership of the delegation:

Leonid Slutsky (Russia, SOC), Rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee on Monaco's accession

Andrea Manzella (Italy,SOC), Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on Monaco's accession

Maria Stoyanova (Bulgaria, EPP)

Maximilian Reimann (Switzerland, LDR)

Marcin Libicki (Poland, EDG)

Pierre Goldberg (France, UEL)

APPENDIX 2

AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR THE OBSERVATION OF THE

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN MONACO

COMMISSION AD HOC SUR L’OBSERVATION DES ELECTIONS

LEGISLATIVES A MONACO

7-10 February / 7 - 10 février 2003

Columbus Hôtel Monaco

23, avenue des Papalins

MC 98000 MONACO

tél : +377.92.05.90.00

fax : +377.92.05.23.86

www.columbushotels.com

DRAFT PROGRAMME

Friday 7 February 2003

15h45       Welcome by the Directorate of the External Relations, Ministry of the State

16h       Meeting of the members of the delegation

      (Columbus Hotel)

16h30       Meeting with Mr. Philippe NARMINO       President of the Court of the First Instance

      and representatives of the Court of Appeal

20h00       Working dinner hosted by His Excellency Mr. Patrick LECLERCQ, Minister of State

Saturday 8 February 2003

10h       Meeting with Heads of the Opposition List – Mr Stéphane VALERI, Mr Claude BOISSON, Mr René GIORDANO

11h30       Meeting with Mr. Jean-Louis Campora, President of the National Council

      and members of the National Council

12h30       Lunch hosted by the National Council

16h       Meeting with the Mayor of Monaco on the preparation of electoral procedures,

      Electoral Law and the Polling Station

Sunday 9 February 2003

9h00       Observation of Voting at the Salle du Canton (Polling Station)

13h       Working Lunch hosted by representatives of the

      Directorate of External Relations

15h       Return to the Salle du Canton

21h       Counting of the votes at the Salle du Canton

      Participation in the <government observation cell>

Monday 10 February 2003

Departure

APPENIDX 3