OSCE pledges support for presidential poll

Europe's largest security body, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), is going to support the interim Kyrgyz authority in holding presidential elections slated for 10 July, following the change of regime in the country. "The OSCE centre in Bishkek will be continuing its Election Assistance Programme (EAP) aimed at assisting the Kyrgyz authorities to hold the upcoming elections in accordance with international standards," Lilian Darii, a political officer with the OSCE centre in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, told IRIN on Thursday. The Vienna-based body plans to support aspects of the electoral process in coordination with other international organisations and local civic groups. In cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in the country, the OSCE has been conducting regular election coordination meetings with the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission (CEC). "Our main focus will be addressing issues raised by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Election Observation Mission (EOM) and the implementation, in cooperation with all actors involved, of the recommendations formulated by various organisations after the last parliamentary elections," Darii said. The February-March Kyrgyz parliamentary elections - which led to the unrest that unseated former president Askar Akayev - fell short of international standards for democratic elections, the OSCE said. "These elections were more competitive than previous ones, but sadly this was undermined by vote buying, de-registration of candidates, interference with media and a worryingly low confidence in judicial and electoral institutions on the part of voters and candidates," said Kimmo Kiljunen, head of the OSCE parliamentary assembly delegation and appointed by the OSCE Chairman in Office as the Special Coordinator of the short-term observers. The 13 March second round of the parliamentary elections in the country showed some technical improvements over the first round, but significant shortcomings remained, confirming the need to address the issues identified, the OSCE observation mission concluded. "The mission noted that some areas of concern remained unchanged from the first round, including lack of effective voter access to diverse sources of information, bias in the media, continued de-registration of candidates on minor grounds, which are within national law, but restrict genuine competition, and inaccurate and poorly maintained voter lists," said Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj, head of the OSCE monitoring mission. The election results sparked mass protests in many parts of the country, which subsequently led to the ouster of the Akayev's government on 24 March. The Kyrgyz parliament accepted Akayev's formal resignation on Monday and announced presidential polls for 10 July as stipulated by the Kyrgyz constitution. "The interim government declares a strong political will to have fair and free polls. It can be achieved if no administrative resources are used to influence the voters’ will," the OSCE official asserted. Acting Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev told visiting US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday that his interim government would make upcoming presidential elections a priority and pledged to ensure a fair vote, the AP reported. "The Kyrgyz government will make every effort to hold the presidential election in accordance with the constitution, laws and all standards of the OSCE," Bakiyev said. "The upcoming presidential elections are important to further stabilise the situation in Kyrgyzstan. The capability of the new authorities to organise free, fair and transparent elections will contribute in a decisive manner to the stability in the country," he added. All the leaders in Central Asia have clung to power since the former Soviet republics became independent in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The interim government appears to be welcoming outside observation of and assistance in the poll. On Thursday, Kyrgyz ombudsman, Tursunbai Bakir uulu, urged international organisations to send observers to Kyrgyzstan for the presidential elections. "First and foremost we need the presence of international observers in order to have really free and fair elections along with financial and material assistance that the donors want to provide," the ombudsman said in a statement. He also called upon local NGOs and civil society activists to boost their efforts on monitoring transparent and fair elections.