Saturday, 18 March 2023
The contacts of the Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Ms Irene Charalambidou, continued yesterday in Astana, who is in the country in her capacity as OSCE Special Coordinator for the early parliamentary elections to be held on 19 March.
Ms. Charalambidou was received by the Minister of the Government, Mr. Erlan Karin and Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko in a joint meeting.
During the meeting, the two officials spoke at length about the efforts made for reforms in the country, especially during the last year.
For her part, Ms. Charalambidou referred to the role of the OSCE election monitoring mission, noting in this context the long tradition of organizing missions and the close cooperation with Kazakhstan in this field. Referring to the Government's reform agenda, she stressed that reform is a long process which requires firm political will on the part of the authorities and perseverance on the part of the people, and expressed the hope that the effort will continue. In this context, she stressed that the OSCE can provide important support.
Finally, views were exchanged on a number of changes in the electoral legislation as a result of the constitutional referendum and their impact on the upcoming elections.
In addition, Ms. Charalambidou addressed the members of the OSCE CSO Election Observation Mission at the beginning of the programme of information meetings.
In her speech she praised the joint effort made jointly between the OSCE CSO and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to assess Kazakhstan's compliance with its democratic commitments.
He noted that the briefing that the members of the mission will receive prior to the start of the on-site observation will include an analysis of the general political context in which the elections are taking place and the overall situation in the field of fundamental rights and freedoms in Kazakhstan, and will include presentations by ODIHR experts, the country's electoral authorities and other state officials, political analysts, media representatives and candidates.
Ms. Charalambidou underlined that the presence of international observers and the assessment of the conduct of the elections on the basis of democratic commitments, enhances transparency and contributes to the understanding of these commitments by the citizens of the country.
Finally, referring to the on-site monitoring that will take place on election day, Ms. Charalambidou called on the observers to apply the relevant Code of Conduct to the letter, in order to ensure the expression of objective conclusions that can contribute constructively to the further strengthening of democratic processes.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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