Deputy Foreign Minister meets Head of OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission in Kazakhstan

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko met today with Eoghan Murphy, Head of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) observation mission for Kazakhstan’s parliamentary elections, Kazinform reports citing the press office of the Kazakh MFA.

During the meeting, which was also attended by the Deputy Head of Mission Dimitra Ioannou and Election Adviser Martina Barker-Ciganikova, the parties discussed preparations for the upcoming early election to the Mazhilis (Lower House) of the Parliament and maslikhats (local representative bodies) of Kazakhstan, scheduled for March 19, 2023.

Deputy Foreign Minister Vassilenko thanked ODIHR for the rapid deployment of its observation mission and emphasized Kazakhstan’s readiness to create all necessary conditions to ensure the proper and effective work of the observers. He also expressed hope the election monitoring provides an objective and unbiased assessment of the election campaign.

The Head of the ODIHR mission was also briefed on President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s political and socio-economic reform agenda in order to build a Just Kazakhstan, as well as familiarized with new amendments to the country’s electoral legislation and the electoral system, that entered into force on January 1, 2023.

Murphy reaffirmed his commitment to constructive engagement with the Kazakh authorities in the election observation process, noting that the main goal of this and other similar missions is to assist the inviting nation in their efforts to further improve the electoral system and practices.

The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission for the early election to the Mazhilis of the Parliament and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan began to deploy its observers on February 7 and will complete its work on March 29.

Photo: gov.kz