On the afternoon of 15 October 2017, SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov held a briefing on the SCO monitoring mission at the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan. The briefing was held in the press centre of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Rashid Alimov pointed out that the SCO Mission included representatives from the two new SCO member states — India and Pakistan. He also spoke about the number of polling statins the SCO observers visited.
"As of 5.30 pm local time, my colleagues from the SCO Mission have visited 163 polling stations in Bishkek, Osh, Kant, Kara-Balta, Cholpon-Ata, Balykchy, and other populated areas in the Chuy, Issyk Kul, Naryn, Osh and Jalal-Abad regions. This allowed us to compile a representative picture of the voting process," the SCO Secretary-General said.
Rashid Alimov, who chaired the SCO Observer Mission, pointed out that the election was held in a well organised manner and in strict compliance with the new procedures, as regulated by Kyrgyz law. "We have taken note of the public interest in the election, including senior citizens and young people. It was nice to see the lection organisers' caring attitude towards people with disabilities," the SCO Secretary-General said.
Rashid Alimov praised the new election model that is based on innovative technology. "We remember how this technology was used for the first time during a referendum on the draft law on amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan [on 11 December 2016]. I would like to remind you that the SCO Mission monitored that referendum," he said.
The SCO Secretary-General highly assessed the preparations carried out by Kyrgyzstan's Central Commission, which was led by Chairperson Nurzhan Shaildabekova, as well as the 25,000 members of the district election commissions.
After the briefing, SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov gave an interview to the media and visited several election commissions in Bishkek shortly before they closed for the day.
The SCO Observer Mission will release a statement on the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan on the afternoon of 16 October 2017.