Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dec.2
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
The main group of observer mission from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) arrived in Uzbekistan in an entourage of 12 people, said the Republican press center for coverage of the election in 2014 Dec.1.
Mission is headed by Ambassador Daan William Everts (The Netherlands).
Eight long-term observers will join them in the coming days. In total, the mission will include 20 representatives from 16 OSCE participating states.
Mission plans to organize its work in Uzbekistan December 1-30. Its main task is to assess the compliance of the national electoral legislation and experience of the organization and conduct of election with the generally accepted international norms and standards. During the observation, the mission members will become familiar with the organization of work of the electoral bodies, the activity of political parties and the media.
On October 28-30, mission on assessment of needs of ODIHR OSCE worked in Uzbekistan to assess the pre-election environment and the preparation for the election to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis (lower house of the Uzbek parliament), which will be held on December 21.
The report of the mission said that since the last parliamentary elections in 2009, the electoral law and the constitution of the country underwent serious changes, which reflect the recommendations of the OSCE ODIHR (clarification of the early voting process, creating the possibility of voting in places of detention, and others). Experts of the mission also recommended to send a limited observation mission for the election observation to assess their compliance with the OSCE commitments, as well as other international commitments and national legislation.
Invitations were sent to observers from 35 foreign countries representing Asia, Europe, CIS, Africa and America, according to the CEC of Uzbekistan. Among them are the leaders and members of national parliaments and electoral authorities, representatives of public organizations and the mass media, as well as scholars and political scientists.
Four more international organizations - the CIS Executive Committee, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the World Association of electoral bodies expressed today their willingness to participate in election observation.
It was earlier reported that the four Uzbek political parties admitted to the election - Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP), People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (PDPU), the Milly Tiklanish Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (National Revival), the Adolat Social Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (Justice) each nominated 135 (according to the number of electoral districts) deputy candidates.
The bicameral parliament in Uzbekistan for the first time was formed in 2005. The Legislative Chamber permanently employs 150 deputies elected in December 2009 from four political parties and the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan for a period of five years.