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Sat, Feb 11 2012
UK ambassador on Bulgaria's elections
UK ambassador in Sofia Steve Williams.
Photo: Velko Angelov
Steve Williams, United Kingdom ambassador in Bulgaria, said in an interview with The Sofia Echo at the election centre that the final report by Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe election monitors will make it possible to assess the extent of the problem of vote-buying.
Williams said that the OSCE's interim report had noted vote-buying as a problem and one that would be monitored.
It was not unusual for Bulgaria's elections to be monitored by the OSCE, given that the country is a member state of the organisation, he told The Sofia Echo.
While he declined to comment on the election results pending finalisation, Williams said that what he found encouraging was the much higher voter turnout in the July 5 national parliamentary elections, compared with the June elections for the European Parliament in Bulgaria: "Let's focus on the positive," Williams said.
As to the election campaigns, he said: "Speaking as a non-politician" that a lack of policy debate was not unique to Bulgaria.
However, given the challenges that Bulgaria is facing, it would have been good to have "a little bit more about policies" rather than attacks.
At least parties did have manifestos and made it clear to the electorate what they stood for, "even though, in many cases the details of what they stood for were fairly thin," Williams said. But this too was not unique to Bulgaria, he said.
Williams said that the OSCE's interim report had noted vote-buying as a problem and one that would be monitored.
It was not unusual for Bulgaria's elections to be monitored by the OSCE, given that the country is a member state of the organisation, he told The Sofia Echo.
While he declined to comment on the election results pending finalisation, Williams said that what he found encouraging was the much higher voter turnout in the July 5 national parliamentary elections, compared with the June elections for the European Parliament in Bulgaria: "Let's focus on the positive," Williams said.
As to the election campaigns, he said: "Speaking as a non-politician" that a lack of policy debate was not unique to Bulgaria.
However, given the challenges that Bulgaria is facing, it would have been good to have "a little bit more about policies" rather than attacks.
At least parties did have manifestos and made it clear to the electorate what they stood for, "even though, in many cases the details of what they stood for were fairly thin," Williams said. But this too was not unique to Bulgaria, he said.
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Observers want PACE to restart the monitoring mechanism on Bulgaria
Overall, the elections were generally in accordance with international standards, but further efforts were needed, observers say.
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Alex:
You may have problem with your English. You don't get what he's saying.
Can you tell that the UK Ambassador to Bulgaria is being very cynical. He is undermining Bulgaria in the most pliable way possible. You can tell by the language such as "But this was not too unique in Bulgaria"