UN sets up observer mission to monitor Fiji elections

The United Nations today announced that it would send an observer mission to Fiji to monitor next month's general elections and the immediate post-election environment.

The announcement comes on the heels of yesterday's decision by the UN General Assembly to establish an electoral observer mission in Fiji. The vote is scheduled to take place 25 August to 1 September.

According to a UN spokesman, the Mission will comprise about 40 international staff taken from Member States and the UN Secretariat. Along with monitors from the Commonwealth and the European Union, the observers will supervise the polling process across the country. They will also monitor the vote counting from 3 to 8 September and will observe the local population's acceptance of the outcome for five days after the announcement of the results.

This will be the first time since the 1994 elections in South Africa that the United Nations will be involved in this type of mission.