CIS observers evaluate Kazakh senate elections
22.08.2011
The senate elections in Kazakhstan have been held in accordance with democratic principles and standards of applicable legislation. This is the evaluation of elections by the CIS observers’ mission featuring 68 people fr om various CIS countries. The observation results were announced today to the Central Electoral Commission by the mission representatives.
All the necessary working conditions, both during the election campaign and on Election Day, were created for observers. They visited voting precincts practically in every region. According to them, the elections were held in a well-organized way and with a high turnout. The country’s political, social and economic situation was defined by stability which created favorable conditions for holding an open election campaign. The mission members noted that they observed the entire voting process starting from the moment the ballots are dropped in the box to the counting of votes.
“This whole procedure was observed not only by observers but also media representatives who filmed the process, which indicates the openness of voting,” said Sergei Lebedev, head of the CIS observers’ mission. “I can say that it was simply impossible to falsify something in this situation or distort voting results. Everything was clear and took place before our eyes.”
“When you walk around the city of Astana, you can see a lot of flowers which create an impression of a city of flowers,” Gurgen Oganesyan, observers’ mission representative, Inter-parliamentary Assembly of CIS Member Nations. “However, it is at the top of the Baiterek tower wh ere you understand the logic of those flowers that make up a pattern, a well-thought out carpet of flowers. This is how I would like to draw an analogy with the elections. Every flower is a vote by every citizen of Kazakhstan and every flowerbed represents elections which together create a democratic carpet of Kazakhstan. This is what’s happening before our eyes today”, Caspionet reports.
