DUSHANBE, February 25, 2010, Asia-Plus — President Emomali Rahmon is receiving the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) election observation mission (EOM) for the February 28 parliamentary elections in Tajikistan today.
According to presidential press service, the process of preparations for elections to the parliament and local legislatures will be the focus of the meeting.
We will recall the OSCE/ODIHR EOM released interim report No 2 on February 22. The report, in particular, notes that the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) has held no sessions since January 19, raising concerns about the transparency and accountability of its work. According to the report, the OSCE/ODIHR EOM has observed that senior officials from regional and local government are members of election commissions, especially in the district election commissions (DECs). While not contravening the election law, the presence of senior local officials as DEC members in combination with the prevalence of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDPT) as DEC members raises concerns regarding the independence of the election administration, the report noted.
