BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 16
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) opened a mission, on September 15, to observe the presidential elections in Uzbekistan which will take place on October 24, Trend reports citing ODIHR.
This is the 400th mission since the establishment of the ODIHR 30 years ago and the 9th mission of the election observation bureau in Uzbekistan.
The mission is led by Eoghan Murphy and consists of 11 experts from the Tashkent-based core team and 28 long-term observers who are due to arrive next week and begin working in all regions of the country from September 24. In addition, the ODIHR plans to request the OSCE participating States to send 250 short-term observers who will arrive a few days before the elections.
During the observation, the mission will assess the compliance of the elections with Uzbekistan's OSCE commitments, other international obligations, and standards for democratic elections, as well as national legislation.
Observers will monitor key aspects of the elections, including voter registration, campaigning, election commissions, and relevant government agencies. The mission experts will analyze the electoral legislation and its implementation, as well as issues of resolving disputes related to elections. The mission will also monitor media coverage of the campaign.
An integral part of the observation will be meetings with representatives of government agencies, political parties, civil society, the media, and the international community.
During the observation - in about three weeks - an interim report will be published, Eoghan Murphy said. The day after the elections, the ODIHR will present its preliminary findings and conclusions. The final report, which will summarize the observation and make recommendations, should be published approximately two months after the end of the electoral process.
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