Kyrgyzstan’s presidential elections: SCO observer mission begins work

On 13 October 2017, a SCO observer mission began work during the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan at the invitation of the Central Electoral Commission of Kyrgyzstan.

The mission is led by the SCO Secretary-General.

In the second half of the day Rashid Alimov met with Chairperson of the Central Electoral Commission of Kyrgyzstan Nurjhan Shayldabekova.

During the conversation, the SCO Secretary-General informed the Chairperson about the plans of the Mission, which includes representatives of the legislative, executive and electoral agencies from the SCO member states, as well as officials from the SCO Secretariat. Mr Alimov noted that "since 2004, 41 SCO missions observed elections, 10 of them in Kyrgyzstan. Based on its extensive experience, the organisation has developed its own monitoring method." The Secretary-General assured Ms Shayldabekova that assessments and conclusions of the Mission will be based on the analysis of the country's electoral legislation and personal observations carried out by the members of the Mission as well as facts collected during the preparation for the election and on the election day itself."

Ms Shayldabekova informed the SCO Mission's delegation about the work that the electoral commission had done to prepare and organise the presidential election. In particular, she noted that the election will be organised based on a new electoral model with new modern innovative technologies (voting with biometric data and automatic ballots). "The electoral system in the country continues to improve, and confidence in elections is the main goal of Kyrgyzstan's electoral reform. Our efforts are concentrated on strengthening people's confidence in the electoral system and the results of the election. In this context, we actively respond and resolve all issues related to electoral procedure, including complaints and comments from citizens. In order to provide high-quality organisation of the procedure, the Central Electoral Commission trained over 23,000 members of commissions at all levels, as well as 4,750 members of electoral commissions who work as ballot operators," the Chairperson said.

The head of the SCO observer mission praised the work of the Central Electoral Commission and also noted the high level of its professional organisation, electoral materials and active discussion in the media. "The SCO mission is planning to visit as many voting sites as possible on the election day as part of the monitoring. All conclusions and results will be summarised in the final document on the monitoring work," Mr Alimov stressed.