Referendum on constitutional amendments begins its work in Tajikistan

Since early morning the IPA CIS observers have been visiting polling stations in Dushanbe, centrally governed municipalities and Khatlonskaya oblast to observe the process of voting.

For referendum process, 68 district and 3275 precinct commissions were formed on 22 May.

The voting started at 6 AM and will end at 8 PM in the evening.

Coordinator of the IPA CIS Team, Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Erminay Naghdalyan told the press that it was too early to draw any conclusions. She reported that there was no high activity at the polling stations on their route early in the morning. The ballot boxes that were sealed at the presence of observers were completely empty and transparent. The ballots themselves were available in Tajik and Russian, with more languages to be added for local minorities. Despite early hours the team saw the first voters. One of them cast the vote having his passport and the pension certificate to prove identity. The voting process complied with national electoral legislation at all the three stations the team had visited at the start of the day.

In a short interview, IPA CIS Council Secretary General Alexey Sergeev said: "The IPA CIS Observer Team included 33 officials. The majority are MPs of the IPA CIS Member Nations. 22 observers are working in Tajikistan and 11 – at stations beyond the country in Baku, Minsk, Bishkek and Moscow. We will monitor the voting process throughout the whole day and present the draft outcomes at a press-conference which will take place tomorrow at the CEC.