UN officials help observers to monitor polling in Palestinian presidential election
7 January 2005 – As Palestinians prepare to go to the polls on Sunday to choose a president, United Nations officials today unveiled some of the details of the technical and logistical assistance they are giving to ensure that the elections are free, fair and staged smoothly.
The world body's Liaison and Support Unit arranged for the Palestinian Central Election Commission and Palestinian security officials to brief more than 350 election observers from 63 separate delegations over the past two days, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe said.
She said UN officials will help ensure that the observers can carry out their mandate on Sunday, when Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are due to vote on a new president. A debriefing for the observers has been scheduled for Monday, when the provisional results from the polls are also expected to arrive.
Document Sources: Secretariat, United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), United Nations News Service
Subject: Assistance, Electoral issues, Statehood-related
Publication Date: 07/01/2005