The Council of Europe on Turkey’s constitutional referendum and Schäuble in 2014

Elections and referenda can be a fickle thing in the European Union of Doom. If the results are deemed wrong, heckling sets in and it can lead to downright threats when you are a German politician.

Statement of the Council of Europe On Turkey’s constitutional referendum: an unlevel playing field

The 16 April constitutional referendum in Turkey was contested on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities, the international observers concluded in a statement released today. While the technical aspects of the process were well administered, voters were not provided with impartial information about key aspects of the reform, and limitations on fundamental freedoms had a negative effect, the statement says.

“The referendum took place in a political environment in which fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed under the state of emergency, and the two sides did not have equal opportunities to make their case to the voters,” said Tana de Zulueta, Head of the ODIHR limited election observation mission. “

Flashback to Greece 2014:

Wolfgang Schäuble, in 2014 when the sides in the Greek election did have equal opportunities as the international observers concluded. All the technical aspects of the process were well administered, voters were provided with impartial information about key aspects of the political parties, and limitations on fundamental freedoms were non existent, had this to say about a democratic election in a country under the siege of the Troika.

Mr Schaeuble warned that things could become difficult if Greece took a "different path".

"New elections change nothing about the agreements that the Greek government has entered into," the eurozone's most powerful finance minister added. "Any new government must stick to the contractual agreements of its predecessors."