Daly and Wallace censured by European Parliament committee

The pair are set to challenge the censure, saying that they had made clear at the time that they were not visiting Ecuador or Venezuela with an official election observation mandate.

MEPs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly at Leinster House, Dublin. Picture: Gareth Chaney Collins

Independents 4 Change MEPs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace have claimed their censure by a European Parliament committee is a "political stunt".

The Irish MEPs were blacklisted by the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group of the European Parliament for taking part in unofficial election-monitoring trips. 

As a result, they will be barred from going on official European Parliament election-observation missions until the end of this year. The two travelled to Venezuela and Ecuador last year to observe elections there, but said that these trips were not done in an official capacity.

The EU denounced the December elections in Venezuela which saw the left-wing Great Patriotic Pole alliance win a super-majority on a 30% turnout. EU high representative of the EU for foreign affairs Josep Borrell Fontelles said the elections "failed to comply with the international standards for a credible process and to mobilise the Venezuelan people to participate".

Ms Daly has pointed out that the EU did not send election observers to South America.

A statement from Ms Daly and Mr Wallace to the Irish Examiner said that the censure has been politically motivated by the controlling parties of the European Parliament, and they will be challenging it.

"These were not 'fake election-observation trips'," they said. 

"We made abundantly clear by public announcement at the time that we were not visiting Ecuador or Venezuela with an official election observation mandate. 

Our decision to go was not influenced by the governments in question. Both of us have a long-standing interest in affairs in both countries, and are vocally opposed to EU and US policy in the region.

"Although we regret that the Ecuadorian people did not choose Andrés Arauz as their president, we found the elections to be conducted fairly and impartially, and their results are beyond question. 

"We renew our call on the EU to abandon its policy of foreign interference in Latin American democracies, and to respect the decisions of their electorates."

In recent months, the Irish pair have denied claims that they "spread misinformation" about a chemical weapons attack in Syria and defended a trip to an Iraqi militia group.