The Mission was headed by Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council Dr.Ömer Kocaman and composed from representatives of the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan and diplomats from the Member States other than Kyrgyzstan.
The Mission has conducted the observation of the voting procedures in 21 polling stations on 11April 2021 in Bishkek and presented the assessment of the Mission on the elections with national, international and public media outlets at a press conference organized today.
The full text of the statement of the Turkic Council International Election Observation Mission is enclosed below.
International Elections Observation Mission
Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States
Elections of the deputies of local keneshes and Referendum
on the draft of Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic
11 April 2021
STATEMENT
Following the invitation from the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, the International Observation Mission of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (hereinafter referred to as the Mission) observed the Elections of the deputies of local keneshes and Referendum on the draft of Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic (hereinafter referred to as the Referendum and Elections) held on 11 April 2021.
The Mission was composed of experts with comprehensive international election observation experience from Central Election Commissions of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, diplomats from Turkey as well as the officials of the Secretariat of the Turkic Council.
The Mission carried out its activities in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as generally recognized rules of international election observation missions.
In the framework of the observation of the pre-referendum and pre-election process, the Mission had a meeting with the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission and Referenda (CECR) Mrs. Nurzhan Shaydalbekova, who provided the members of the Mission with in-depth information about preparations of the referendum and elections.
The mission welcomes the efforts of the Central Election Commission and Referenda on the creation of a stable system of response to violations of electoral legislation as well as applying new algorithms for law enforcement training. The mission also highly appreciates the recent amendments in the electoral legal framework introducing a 30-percent gender quota for elections of local deputies to ensure the representation of women at local keneshes.
The mission also met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. Azizbek Madmarov, who informed about the measures carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed at preparing diplomatic missions and consular offices of the Kyrgyz Republic for the referendum and elections. The Mission took note that 48 polling stations were established in 28 diplomatic missions and consular offices as well as other public representatives of the Kyrgyz Republic located in foreign countries for ensuring larger involvement of Kyrgyz citizens living abroad in the voting process during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout the Referendum and Elections Day, the Mission has conducted the observation of the voting procedures in 21 polling stations in Bishkek. The polling stations were equipped with automatic ballot boxes, which enabled faster biometric identification of voters and automated vote counting. The mission welcomes the use of modern technologies in the Kyrgyz Republic to improve election administration, which could be applied as a best practice by other countries considering their critical contribution to eliminating certain malpractices and fraudulent behavior in elections.
Necessary information and materials about the referendum and election procedures were presented inside the polling station. The precinct election commissions provided full access for international and local observers for active observation in all locations covered by the Mission.
Voting was conducted smoothly. No case of illegal intervention by administrative or law enforcement authorities to the work of election commissions was observed. No obstacles to the right of free voting were monitored either.
At the same time, in accordance with the measures taken in connection with the pandemic, curtains or doors were not installed in the voting booths. The Mission noticed that necessary sanitary precautions have been taken by CECR at the polling stations concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mission witnessed active participation of the national and international observers, which reinforces the transparency and public accountability in the Elections.
The Mission observed that there were no serious technical problems, which would affect the results of the referendum and elections. It can also be noted that public order was secured at the polling stations. Propaganda materials, coercion by any political group, leakage of voting bulletins were not observed in the course of the referendum and elections.
The polling stations were mostly accessible for persons with disabilities. There were also braille alphabet templates for blind voters and mobile ballot boxes for those who could not cast their ballots at the polling stations. At the same time, it would be a wise move to provide all polling stations with the pandus system and to enable the voting booths specially designed for persons with disabilities.
The Mission also believes that it would be quite contributive to the enhancement of the political representation of the population if the policymakers could adopt necessary measures aimed at increasing electoral activity of the Kyrgyz society and raising awareness in the election process.
Furthermore, at the end of the voting day, the Mission observed the counting process in one of the polling stations. Counting of votes was implemented by the election commissions in accordance with rules set out by the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The Mission will share with the Member States and relevant International Organizations its assessment and recommendations on the referendum and elections in the coming days.
In conclusion, the Observation Mission of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States affirms that the Elections of the deputies of local keneshes and the Referendum on the draft of Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic was conducted in an open, transparent and professional way in compliance with the national legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic and generally/internationally accepted standards of democratic elections.
