WRITTEN QUESTION P-1825/00 by Brian Crowley (UEN) to the Council. Elections in Peru.
Date: 2000-06-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Peru, democracy, election monitoring, fact-finding mission, presidential election

13.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/99

(2001/C 81 E/118)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1825/00

by Brian Crowley (UEN) to the Council

(5 June 2000)

Subject: Elections in Peru

As the Council is aware, the Presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo withdrew from the run-off in the
Peruvian Presidential elections of 28 May, stating that a postponement was the only way to ensure that
the election conditions would be improved and that the run-off would not be fraudulent. He also asked for
the date of the election to be changed to 18 June 2000. Furthermore, the Electoral Observation Mission of
the Organisation of American States announced that it would suspend its election observation because
of the lack of consistency and accuracy in the National Office of Electoral Processes and that it was
necessary to be able to offer sufficient guarantees to the Peruvian population as a whole that their votes
would be respected.

Will the Council make a statement with regard to the developments in the Presidential elections in Peru
referred to above and outline its policy for future relations with Peru, and would it go so far as to consider
the imposition of sanctions, should the present position remain unchanged?

Reply

(28 September 2000)

As the Honourable Member probably is aware, the EU and its member states withdrew their monitoring
teams, following Peruvian electoral authorities decision to reject the postponement of the second round of
the Presidential elections and the ruling that Mr. Toledo remained a candidate despite his decision to
boycott the ballot.

On this occasion, the EU issued a declaration announcing its decision to withdraw its monitoring mission
and underlined its deep concern in relation to the decision of the (cid:145)Jurado Nacional de Elecciones(cid:146). The EU
stated that the decision would (cid:145)not allow time to overcome the difficulties observed during the electoral
process(cid:146) and, therefore, would (cid:145)not permit the elections to take place in a credible manner and in
accordance with international standards.(cid:146) The declaration also drew attention to the need to respect the
principles of constitutional democracy and political pluralism, recalling that the engagement to abide by
those principles is a precondition to the development of its political and economic ties with Peru.

On 9 June 2000, following the decision of the OAS to send, on the invitation of the Peruvian authorities, a
new mission to Peru, the Presidency, on behalf of the European Union, further issued a Declaration on the
situation in Peru.

The declaration reiterated the European Union(cid:146)s deep concern over the number of irregularities and
anomalies reported during the elections and the subsequent reduction of the democratic legitimacy the
elections would otherwise have provided.

It welcomed the decision of the OAS to send a mission to Peru to explore options and recommendations
aimed at further strengthening democracy and underlined the strong importance the EU attaches to the
success of the mission.

The declaration furthermore expressed the will on the part of the European Union to put its weight behind
all democratic forces active in Peru that strive for a reinforcement of institutions to safeguard the peoples
right of political freedom and participation and the rule of law.

The European Union also called upon all political forces, and specially the Government, to work for
consensus, through dialogue, in order to find sufficient ground for compromise to strengthen democracy
in Peru, allowing the opposition to fully participate in the political debate.

The Council, as stated in the declaration, will continue to closely follow the situation in Peru and its
development and, in this light, will examine its relations with this country.