MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

OAS electoral observers arrive in Panama ahead of Sunday's ballot

The mission is headed by former Peruvian presidential candidate Lourdes Flores

The OAS Electoral Observation Mission has arrived in Panama, led by former Peruvian Congresswoman and presidential candidate Lourdes Flores Nano, for the final deployment of the 56 international experts and observers ahead of Sunday's general elections.

 The Mission, composed of citizens from 15 member states and 5 observer countries to the Organization of American States, is already present in the 10 provinces of Panama as well as in the municipal counties.

As part of their tasks, the members of the Mission will hold meetings with governmental authorities and local electoral officials, political party representatives and civil society. Likewise a group of experts has been working for weeks on the monitoring of key aspects of the electoral process such as campaign financing, the participation of men and women in the election, the role of the media, electoral security, the vote abroad, and the resolution of electoral disputes.

During her third visit to the country, Chief of Mission Flores Nano will meet with magistrates from the Panamanian Electoral Tribunal, the Electoral Prosecutor and presidential candidates, as well as with members of the diplomatic corps and international organizations accredited in the country.

This is part of the info gathering task on the electoral process and its current evolution.

The OAS Mission also called Panama citizenship to turn out in massive numbers to vote on Sunday as yet another show of their commitment to democracy in the country.

On Monday, 5 May following the election, the Mission will publish a report with preliminary observations on the process and, once completed, will deliver a report to the OAS Permanent Council.