ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 24. The Kurultay elections offer an opportunity to strengthen public participation, build citizens’ trust, and advance the development of the country’s representative institutions, Deputy Secretary-General of the Organization of Turkic States, Nuru Guliyev, said, Trend's special correspondent reports.
Nuru Guliyev made the statement during a briefing in Astana.
He noted that the mission included officials from the OTS Secretariat, as well as representatives of the central election commissions and government agencies of member states: Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan. The mission carried out its activities in accordance with the national legislation of Kazakhstan, as well as with universally recognized norms of international law governing the organization and conduct of elections and referendums.
“The mission welcomes the establishment of the new Kurultay as a unicameral legislative body and the holding of the first elections to it, which is an important milestone in the development of the institutional system of the Republic of Kazakhstan.”
“In this context, the mission welcomes the efforts of the electoral authorities and other stakeholders aimed at implementing the new electoral system within a relatively short timeframe following the constitutional reform. The mission views this first electoral process as an opportunity to strengthen public participation, citizen trust, and the development of the country’s representative institutions,” Guliyev said.
He noted that the mission welcomes the efforts of electoral authorities and other stakeholders aimed at implementing the new electoral system within a relatively short timeframe following the constitutional reform.
Furthermore, Guliyev added that the OTS mission views this first electoral process as an opportunity to strengthen public participation, citizen trust, and the development of the country’s representative institutions.
“In total, the mission visited 33 polling stations to observe the voting process. The mission found no evidence of interference by administrative or law enforcement agencies in the activities of the polling stations visited. It was also noted that the necessary administrative measures had been taken to ensure citizens’ freedom to express their will,” he stated.
