AID announces the launch of the "National Parliamentary Transparency Initiative", a national parliamentary reform program supported by the US Embassy in Romania and implemented with the participation of further foreign embassies to Romania, representing EU member states. Please click HERE for the full press release.
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AID News
22 November 2004 ::: Nine O'clock
“Politicians can be replaced”
BUCHAREST - Attending the release of the brochure “Citizen’s electoral guide” Thomas Delare, deputy of the USA Ambassador to Bucharest, stated a “very tight” competition is “healthy” for the democracy. “Politicians are bound to tell you what they do with taxpayers’ money,” he mentioned. A tight and very harsh competition - as the one in Romania - requires politicians to “work hard to win the vote” of the electorate. “Remind them that they can be replaced if you don’t like what they say and remind them that, after all, you can hold them responsible,” he added. “The Government of the United States is neuter in this competition,” Delare stated. Asked to comment on the Coalition for Clean Parliament (CPC) and its endeavour, Delare said that monitoring both Romanian Parliamentarians, and American Congressmen, is “the best thing NGOs and the media can do to keep citizens informed on the activity” of the legislative body. “But you are very close to the election date, and if I said anything else, I would be accused of interfering,” Delare explained.
As for a possible electoral fraud, the diplomat stated that “elections will be fair and free.” The vote cannot be perfect, either in Romania, or in the United States, Delare pointed out. He mentioned however that both local observers, and OSCE, Council of Europe and Romanian NGOs representatives will watch over ballot proceedings.
The Initiative for Electoral Transparency released in Bucharest on Friday the “Citizen’s electoral guide,” drawn up in a programme co-financed by the USA Embassy in Bucharest. Alexandru Cumpanasu, executive director of the Association for Democracy Implementation (AID), which implemented the project, stated that the purpose of the Guide is to provide citizens who will vote on November 28 with information of the four Parliamentary parties as well as other useful information on exercising their right to vote. (by Irina Dumitriu)
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