Representatives of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) who were tasked with observing the elections for deputies to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Local Councils have completed their work in Tashkent. In light of this, a meeting was held at the Central Election Commission (CEC) with the participation of Mr. Douglas Wake, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, his deputy Dimitra Ioannou, and Election Analyst Taylor Chris Taylor.
The mission consisted of 17 experts from the core team and 26 long-term observers. On election day, a total of 322 observers from 33 countries were involved, including 223 long-term and short-term observers from the ODIHR and 56 delegates from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
The short-term OSCE mission was led by Special Coordinator A. Guliyev, while D. Wake, the ODIHR representative, began working in the country on September 23 of this year.
Throughout the observation process, the team monitored the preparations for the elections and ensured compliance with OSCE commitments and international standards for democratic elections, as well as the national electoral legislation. At the meeting, the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions on Uzbekistan – Parliamentary Elections was presented.
Expressing sincere gratitude for the meeting, D. Wake, the head of the mission, noted the strong and developing cooperation between the OSCE/ODIHR and Uzbekistan in the field of elections, which serves to introduce best practices in accordance with modern trends.
The CEC Chairman thanked the partners for their work in the observation and monitoring process and emphasized that their recommendations and proposals would be taken into consideration when improving the electoral legislation. The parties also discussed the continuation of practical cooperation between the CEC and the OSCE/ODIHR.
It is worth noting that the OSCE/ODIHR mission will prepare a final report in the future, which will contain proposals and recommendations for improving practices in organizing and conducting elections, as well as relevant legal documents.
Musulmon Ziyo, UzA