DUSHANBE, November 6, Asia-Plus — “The presidential election in Tajikistan is being held in calm, stable and democratic atmosphere,” Vladimir Pekhtin, vice-speaker of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, remarked at a news conference in Dushanbe on November 6.
According to him, the voting process has been held without interference of local authorities, in compliance with the country’s Constitutions and election laws. “No serious violations have been recorded during the voting process,” Pekhtin said, adding that inconsiderable violations have been reported in rural areas. “In some rural areas, voters came to the polling stations without passports,” said Pekhtin, “In some areas, a shortage of voting-papers has been revealed.”
“In the meantime, some representatives from the OSCE election observation mission have acted like inspectors rather than observers, finding faults with voters over trifles,” said the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly official, “Even not all European countries meet the OSCE standards completely.” Imposed democracy will not be of benefit, according to him.
Supporting his colleague, the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly secretary general Mikhail Krotov noted that the presidential election in Tajikistan is of international importance. “Today’s presidential election has shown a high political culture of the population,” Krotov said.
During the news conference it was noted that 72.6 percent of voters across the republic participated before 2:00 p.m.
