EU will not send observers to Congo vote: MEPs
(BRAZZAVILLE) - The European Union will not send observers to Congo's presidential election, a delegation of Euro-deputies visiting Brazzaville said Sunday.
The European Union "will not send observers for the Congo presidential" vote, Patrick Gaubert, vice chairman of the European Parliament's human rights subcommittee told reporters.
The European Commission "told us that this election was not a priority," he added.
Gaubert and French MEP Jacques Toubon, a former justice minister, said they had met several of the candidates for the July 12 vote including the incumbent, Denis Sassou Nguesso.
"In a country such as Congo, any help towards dialogue is something positive for democracy," said Toubon.
Sassou Nguesso, a onetime military ruler, was elected in 2002 in a poll that international observers said fell short of democratic standards.
Thirteen candidates will contest the presidential election.
On Saturday, Congo's opposition said the constitutional court's rejection of four candidates including a former prime minister threatened peace in the country.
Those rejected included one of the main opposition candidates, Ange Edouard Poungui.
If no candidate wins an outright majority in the first round, it will be followed by a second round on a date yet to be announced.
Gaubert and Toubon were in Congo-Brazzaville at the invitation of the country's electoral commission.
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