Turkey’s well-managed, democratic elections demonstrated pluralism but also showed a need for improvements on fundamental freedoms, according to international election observers from the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and Council of Europe.
“To fully live up to its democratic commitments, Turkey must do more than run efficient professional elections on the day of the vote,” said Pia Christmas-Moeller (Denmark), head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation.
“The ten per cent threshold, by far the highest in Europe, remains a central issue in these elections,” said Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden), head of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe delegation.
In a country with a sizable number of people belonging to national minorities and with a long history of internal divisions, this threshold may hinder communication and interplay between the populace and its legislature,” Lundgren said.
Observers applauded the Supreme Election Board for its professional management of the election and the open access granted to observers, which promoted public confidence in the process.
The observers, comprised of 61 Members of Parliaments from 30 countries, observed voting in regions spanning the whole country on Election Day. They said there is a need to promote more participation and representation of women in the political life of the country.
According to the information, about 98 percent of votes were counted in the Turkish elections on Sunday. According to the information at 20:30 local time, the ruling party is leading with a score of 50 percent of votes (327 MPs).
Full Article: European observers: Turkish elections are well-managed and democratic | Politics | Trend.