Introduction

The European Commission has deployed an EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Zambia for the tripartite elections scheduled to take place on 28 September 2006. The Mission is led by Annemie Neyts (Belgium), a Member of the European Parliament.

A core team of election experts arrived in Zambia at the beginning of September, followed by 36 Long-Term Observers, who are deployed throughout the country observing the run-up to election day and election day itself. The core team, who are based in Lusaka, consists of Luis Martínez-Betanzos, Deputy Chief Observer (Spain); Fredrik Blanck, Legal Expert (Sweden); Ron Herrmann, Election Expert (Germany); Sarah Fradgley, Press Officer (UK); Philip Jol, Operations and Security Expert (UK); Florence Ganoux, Observer Coordinator (France); David Ward, Media Expert (UK); and Ralph-Michael Peters, Deputy Observer Coordinator (Germany).

A group of 48 Short-Term Observers will also complement the core team and Long-Term Observers for the period immediately prior to and including polling day to observe the voting and counting process.

The EU EOM to Zambia will remain in country until the completion and finalisation of the electoral process.