Kazakhstan CEC Accredits 69 IPA CIS International Observers for Kurultai Elections

The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan accredited 69 international observers from the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS to monitor the elections to the country’s new unicameral parliament, the Kurultai.

The IPA CIS Observer Team, headed by Coordinator and Deputy Chair of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Igor Brilevich, will arrive in Kazakhstan this week. The short-term observation will involve representatives of the parliaments of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as experts from the International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development of the IPA CIS (IIMDD IPA CIS).

The observers will meet with the leadership of the CEC and election participants. On election day, they will monitor voting at polling stations in Kazakhstan and abroad. Members of the Observer Team will work in Baku, Yerevan, Bishkek, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Astrakhan, Kazan, Omsk, Dushanbe, Tashkent, Brussels, Rome and Singapore.

The IPA CIS international observers are monitoring the elections at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Earlier, members of the Observer Team conducted long-term monitoring of election preparations and met with candidates and election officials in the country’s regions. IIMDD IPA CIS experts also analysed Kazakhstan’s electoral legislation for compliance with international standards for democratic elections. Their expert opinion will be submitted to the CEC.