ASTANA – The Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan reaffirmed its intention to pursue an open and constructive dialogue with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), said CEC Chairman Nurlan Abdirov at a meeting with Eoghan Murphy, the head of the ODIHR election observation mission on March 27, the CEC press service reported.
CEC Chairman Nurlan Abdirov with head of the ODIHR mission Eoghan Murphy. Photo credit: election.gov.kz.
Abdirov spoke about the results of the March 19 parliamentary election and emphasized the need to expand cooperation with the OSCE/ODIHR.
“The electoral campaign was highly competitive, aroused great public interest, and attracted an unprecedentedly large number of national and foreign observers and media representatives,” Abdirov said.
The head of the ODIHR mission thanked him for assisting in organizing observers’ work, stressing the importance of the elections and the CEC itself.
“Congratulations on the work done to organize the elections. Many complex challenges and changes required the necessary administration, which was effective,” he noted.
Murphy shared his plans to arrive in Kazakhstan with experts to present the report on the observation of the parliamentary election and its substantive discussion with the CEC and interested state bodies.
Abdirov accepted the proposal, highlighting that the CEC will review all the mission recommendations.
“The CEC attaches great importance to continuing constructive dialogue with the ODIHR, including in the period between electoral campaigns,” he added.
Overall, the CEC accredited 410 observers from the OSCE/ODIHR mission and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Of these, 350 people observed the election in all 17 regions and three cities of national significance.
