Tania Marques, deputy head of the European Union Electoral Observation Mission. Photo: Media Nation.
Tania Marques, deputy head of the European Union Electoral Observation Mission, highlighted the normal development of the last elections and reiterated that, despite the allegations of alleged electoral fraud, until now there is no clear evidence in this regard. Similarly, she supported the decision not to open Envelope 4 by the TSJE.
In an interview with the program Crossfire issued by GEN/Nación Media, Marques explained that sending a group of electoral observers It represents the commitment that the European Union has with the democratic process in our country.
This is the third EU election observation missionwhich was in charge provide support before, during and after the general elections in which the authorities that will govern the country for the next 5 years were elected.
“Election Day it was a transparent and organized day, there were irregularities but there was not a dimension that could affect the legitimacy of the process“said the representative of the MOE.
He stressed that the entire electoral process was carried out in a transparent manner, highlighting the effort of the authorities of the Superior Court of Electoral Justice (TSJE) to increase citizen confidence. Likewise, he maintained that the provisional count and final judgment of minutes It was done without any major hiccups.
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In general terms, it was possible to notice confidence on the part of citizens and political parties in voting machines used for voting, emphasized Marques, recalling the previous work they did with the representatives of the political parties to verify the use of electoral technology.
About the allegations of alleged electoral fraudsaid So far there is no concrete evidence about this fact. “We have been in contact with most of the opposition parties, and there is still no clear evidence“.
The EU representative explained that the tables that were challenged had questions but for other different reasonswithout being related to an alleged fact of fraud as alleged opposition leadersespecially from the National Crusade Party.
Marques spoke about the request to open Envelope No. 4 and sided with the Electoral Justice by refusing said requestd, since the manual counting of ballot papers is not contemplated in the law. “The recount is not done like this, that is not only in ParaguayI don’t know of a country where the legislation allows a recount without evidence”.
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In this regard, he said that in other countries the recount of votes after the elections must first go through a rigorous procedure which includes an official claim and a subsequent judicial opinion to give the ‘green light’ to said procedure, based on compelling evidence.
“His position (of the TSJE) is very valid because they would be making space for anyone in the future to come and challenge the legal value of a polling station and with it counts are made. Any review of what happened at the polling station must go through legal proceedings, it cannot be done just because people suspect that there has been fraudit can only be done at a certain table and for a certain reason”, he clarified.
Finally, highlighted the participation of young people and women as candidates for different positions in these elections, which allows for greater diversity within the electoral offer.
