BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 8
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened a limited election observation mission (LEOM) for January 10, 2021, parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, Trend reports citing OSCE.
The mission’s deployment follows an invitation from the country’s authorities.
The mission is led by Ambassador Jarosław Marcin Domański and consists of a core team of 11 experts based in Nur-Sultan. In addition, 24 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from December 15.
The mission will assess the election for its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.
Observers will closely monitor voter and candidate registration, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, election-related legislation and its implementation, and the resolution of election-related disputes. The mission will also monitor the media coverage of the campaign.
In the course of its observation, the mission will meet with representatives of state authorities, political parties, civil society, the media, and the international community.
While the mission will visit a limited number of polling stations on election day, there will not be any systematic observation of voting, counting, or tabulation of the results. On election day, the ODIHR LEOM will join efforts with a delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
The mission will publish an interim report in the course of its work. The day after the elections, a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued at a press conference. A final report summing up the observation and proposing recommendations will be published approximately two months after the end of the electoral process.