The Observer of the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Ghana in 2020, Javier Nart, has visited the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
He was at the Foreign Ministry on Monday, April 12, 2021.
DGN Online understands that Mr. Nart “is visiting Ghana from Sunday, 11th April, 2021 to Wednesday, 14th April, 2021. ”
During the 3-day visit, Mr. Nart is expected to pay courtesy calls on Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and other officials in government.
A former journalist, Mr. Javier Nart ventured into politics in the early 2000s before becoming a Member of the European Parliament in 2014.
At the EU Parliament, he has served as Vice-Chair of the Delegation for Relations with countries of Central America, and the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
Mr. Nart was also a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Security and Defence, as well as the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly.
In addition, he has served as a substitute member for the Delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union, including the EU-Morocco, EU-Tunisia and EU-Algeria Joint Parliamentary Committees, to date.
During the courtesy call, the Minister commended Mr Nart and his team for a successful election observation mission undertaken in different locations of the country during the presidential elections held on 7th December, 2020.
She applauded “the efficient work executed by the 2020 EU Election Observation Mission, with a team of 9 Election Experts who arrived in Ghana on 31st October, 2020 and stayed until the completion of the electoral process, and further mentioned the roles played by 40 long-term Observers who joined the Mission on 7th November, 2020 and were deployed across Ghana’s 16 regions ably supported by 30 locally recruited short-term Observers on Election Day.”
She recalled ” with satisfaction the unwavering support extended by the EU to Ghana’s electoral development, demonstrated by the 2020 Mission, the third EU Election Observation Mission to Ghana, following the first one during the 2008 elections and the second Mission for the 2016 elections.”
She told Mr. Nart that
the 2020 presidential elections was confronted with an unexpected challenge, namely the COVID-19 pandemic, which required the introduction of safety protocols to ensure voters felt safe, expressing satisfaction with the fruitful relations between Ghana and the European Union (EU) and commend the EU for consistent support over the years including the financial assistance of 87 million euros in budget support to Ghana as part of the COVID-19 response.
She also indicated that according to the pre-election Voters’ Register, over 17 million qualified adults had registered to take part in the December 2020 elections compared to 15.7 million registered voters during the 2016 Elections demonstrating a greater involvement of Ghanaians in the election of leaders.
She observed that for the first time, female participation had manifested at leadership level with one female running mate and three female presidential candidates, however express regret that women were still underrepresented because out of the 275 Members of Parliament, only 46 are women.
By Melvin Tarlue