ANNOUNCEMENT

On November 11, 2022, the first meeting of the Expert Council at the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held under the chairmanship of Nurlan Abdirov. 

The only agenda issue was to discuss the final report of the OSCE/ODIHR Mission to assess the republican referendum held on June 5, 2022. 

The Expert Council included well-known legal experts, experts in the field of constitutional, judicial, administrative, criminal, international law and justice, as well as researchers from interdisciplinary branches of knowledge – political science, sociology, cultural studies and electoral practitioners. 

Representatives of international missions, who arrived to observe the early presidential elections, were invited to participate in the meeting, they are Xavier Noc, OSCE/ODIHR election analyst; Oleg Kuleba, Advisor to the CIS Executive Committee, member of the CIS Mission Headquarters; Ivan Mushket, Deputy Head of the CIS IPA Secretariat and Sergey Karavayev, Advisor to the Secretary General of the CIS IPA Council. 

The meeting was held in the format of a rich session and lively debate: a wide range of perspectives and experiences were presented, alternative views worthy of attention and interesting ideas were expressed. In total, 15 people made various suggestions and comments. 

Various views of experts regarding certain recommendations of the ODIHR Mission unanimously agreed that in the context of the ongoing constitutional reform and legislative innovations, the Referendum Law also needs to be further improved. 

The Chairman of the CEC said that today's discussion is only the first touch of the topic. It is expected to devote a series of meetings to it. Together, the most promising ideas have yet to be implemented on the basis of the report, the deployment of research, and the approbation of their results.

In conclusion, Nurlan Abdirov stated the obviousness of the request for the formation of an intellectual platform for discussing issues of further transformation of the electoral system and the need to promote a professional vision of electoral processes. The Expert Council should become another channel for close interaction among the CEC, society and international institutions. 

More details on the content of the meeting of the Expert Council at the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan can be found in the “Expert Opinion” section.