Press-Release

Member of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan M.A. Sarsembayev took part in the Election Seminar on Election Observation and Follow-up of Recommendation, which was organized by the OSCE/ODIHR.

Member of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan M.A. Sarsembayev took part in the Election Seminar on Election Observation and Follow-up of Recommendation of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Missions, which was held on 2 November 2016 in Vienna (Austria).

The event was organized by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) and it was attended by OSCE election experts, members of parliaments, representatives of election management bodies, international organizations and NGOs of the OSCE participating states.

During the plenary session the international obligations in the field of elections such as positive changes in the standards of elections, stimulating the participation of women, protection of the electoral rights of persons with disabilities, were discussed. At the same time the challenges for the follow-up of recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation missions, in particular concerning the transparency of campaign finance and administrative support to the parties and candidates during the election campaign, were noted.

Also, participants paid great attention to the consideration of practice on the implementation of the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, specific mechanisms used by the OSCE participating states.

Emphasis was given to the role of national parliaments and parliamentary assemblies in promoting the implementation of recommendations as well as the role of NGOs in the process of implementation of the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations.

At the end of the seminar there was exchange of views on further OSCE/ODIHR activities in the field of elections. The participants of the event noted that the main areas of activity are: review of legislation, legal expertise in law drafting activities, in-depth evaluation of certain legislation sections regarding elections, technical assistance to implement the recommendations and other the best electoral practice, support to NGOs’ observer groups, interim assessment visits as well as the assistance and coordination.