The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia sends an election observation mission to Morocco

Barcelona (CNA).- The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) has been invited by the National Council for Human Rights, the Moroccan agency responsible for accrediting international observers, to monitor the parliamentary elections taking place in this country this Friday 7^th of October. The mission is made up of 12 people trained in the field of international observation. They have followed the final days of the election campaign and the preparations for the election, and are observing the voting process: counting, aggregation and subsequent declaration of results. Up to 100 observers have been accredited to monitor it. The general secretary of Diplocat, Albert Royo, stressed that this mission "makes Catalonia visible as an international committed, serious and responsible actor, in a natural space of action as is the Mediterranean area".

Royo stated that the aim is “to promote the strengthening of democracy and respect for the effective exercise of a series of rights, including the right to freedom of expression, the right to vote and other civil rights, accompanying in this way the democratization and citizen construction processes of a nearby country such as Morocco".

The Catalan observers have held meetings with various actors involved in the electoral process, including government authorities, the National Council for Human Rights, political parties and candidates, civil society representatives and various media outlets. The election observation mission will present an assessment report publicly after the election.

Other international organizations are also observing the elections, such as the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of the United States. In total, there have been accredited nearly a hundred international observers for the occasion.

Diplocat has organized training courses on election observation in Catalonia and has sent other observer teams before, in countries such as Costa Rica, Uruguay and Armenia.