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Mathew Palmer: Boycott of Elections is not a Solution

Politiko 29 Maj 2020, 11:13

Mathew Palmer: Boycott of Elections is not a Solution

Conditions for Parliamentary elections in Serbia were not ideal, especially in terms of the media, but the boycott would not be a solution, deputy assistant of the US Secretary of State and the special envoy for Western Balkans Matthew Palmer said in an interview for Voice of America (VoA).

Palmer said that the USA understood some argumentation of the opposition that the election conditions were not fair, but he warned that their voice would just be weaker if they should leave the political arena.

“In case of the elections on June 21, we would wish for citizens in Serbia to have the largest possible choice, it would be important to have a right choice in a democratic process and we encouraged all political parties to take part in it. A boycott is almost never a good instrument to show discontent. We welcome the decision of those who decided to take part and we hope that Serbian citizens, on their polls on June 21, would have someone to choose from”, Palmer said.

He emphasized that it was important that the OSCE Mission in Serbia should assess the conditions for the elections.

“It is important that all political parties have access to the state-owned media, especially RTS. However, as we already said, the response to it would be to have all political parties, including the ruling ones, to enter the arena, to compete, to pass on their messages and secure the support of the citizens”, Palmer said.

When he was asked if he believed that the problems of weak presence of the opposition in the media could be resolved by the elections, Palmer replied that there were clearly many challenges and that there were reasons why the opposition parties did not want to take part in the elections.

“We understand this, but we do not believe that the boycott is an answer. Even if the conditions are not equal for everyone, as they should be, the opposition should be in the game, their voice should be heard, and they should compete and give an opportunity to the public in Serbia to choose. And continue their fight for more equal election conditions, especially in terms of media. We will fight for the same thing. It is important for Serbia’s European future and European perspective that the media environment is open and fair”, he said.

“If Serbian citizens should get to the polls without having a legitimate choice, that is not favoring the democracy”, he said.

Palmer said that it was not true that the USA supported stability on account of democracy and that this was an argumentation he kept on listening for 25 years in the Western Balkans.

“We constantly support democracy, efficient administration, rule of law, freedom of media, we support reforms, democratic and transparent rule not only in Serbia but throughout the Western Balkans constantly for 20 years”, he said.