ODIHR opens election observation mission in Uzbekistan

AKIPRESS.COM - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on November 25 opened an election observation mission for the 22 December parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan. The deployment follows an invitation from the country's authorities. The mission is led by Tana de Zulueta and consists of a core team of 11 experts based in Tashkent as well as 30 long-term observers, who will be deployed throughout the country from 3 December. ODIHR will also request OSCE participating States to provide 250 short-term observers, who will arrive a few days before the elections.
The mission will assess the elections for their compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will closely monitor fundamental aspects of the election such as voter 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.
Meetings with representatives of state authorities, political parties, civil society, the media and the international community form an integral part of the observation.
On election day, the ODIHR EOM will join efforts with a delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to observe the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots and the tabulation of results.
An interim report will be published to update the public and media during the course of the observation. The day after the election, ODIHR's preliminary findings and conclusions will be presented at a press conference, to which journalists are already cordially invited. A final report on the observation will be issued approximately two months after the end of the election process.
The ODIHR election observation mission and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan operate separately under their respective mandates.