Details were added (the first version was posted at 10:57 )
Kazakhstan , Astana, Aug.20 / Trend, A. Maratov /
The elections to the Kazakh Senate were held openly, public, according to legislation, CIS Observation Mission head Sergei Lebedev said at a briefing in Astana on Saturday.
"Our mission comes to a definite conclusion that the elections to the Senate were held in strict accordance with the Kazakh laws. The elections were open and public," Lebedev said.
He said the CIS Observation Mission could observer the whole electoral process.
"All it means transparency, openness, and it was difficult to distort and falsify anything in such circumstances," he stressed.
The mission began its work on Aug.11. It was attended by 68 representatives of eight CIS countries. According to Lebedev, preparation for elections was organized, and explanatory work has been held at high level.
Lebedev stressed that the impressions of the CIS Mission that worked in the regions, coincides with the assessment of those who observed the elections in Astana.
The elections were held on Friday, Aug. 19.
According to the Kazakh CEC, under the law "On elections", the voting for senators is held at a joint meeting of voters, which is regarded as legitimate as long as the majority (over 50 percent) of elected deputies representing all Astana and Almati maslikhats attended the elections. Kazakhstan used mixed methods for electing senators: 15 senators were appointed by the president, and 32 were elected by secret ballots.
According to the Kazakh CEC, 213 maslikhats operate in the country at varying levels. Some 51 out of 3,335 seats are now vacant. Thus, the number of voters included in the list is 3,284 people. Surnames of 39 registered candidates to Senate member are included in the voting bulletin.