The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has canceled plans to observe the upcoming parliamentary elections in Tajikistan in March.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said on February 4 that the lack of assurance by the authorities of Tajikistan that international observers will be accredited has regrettably made it necessary to cancel the observation of the country’s forthcoming parliamentary elections.
“We deeply regret that our observation of the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Tajikistan will no longer be possible,” said ODIHR Director Maria Telalian. “But the absence of formal guarantees that our observers will be able to carry out their work less than a month before election day made our withdrawal from the observation unavoidable.”
According to ODIHR, although the observation mission opened on 22 January, the team of election experts based in Dushanbe have been unable to begin their work. The continuing lack of assurances that ODIHR experts and international observers would receive the accreditation needed to observe the election followed numerous attempts to obtain clarity on the issue and an extension of the deadline for a formal response from the authorities.
Elections to the lower house of Tajikistan’s parliament, the Majlisi Oli, are scheduled for March 2, and elections to the upper house, the Majlisi Milli, will be held on March 28.
