CSTO Observers Met with Leadership of Federation Council and Representatives of State Duma Political Parties

As part of its monitoring of the elections, CSTO PA international observer mission visited both chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The observers held a round of in-depth consultations with Russian MPs to assess the progress of voting preparations and discuss current electoral matters.

Rustam Shokhmurod, coordinator of the CSTO PA observer group, praised the openness of the Russian parliament and the willingness of all political forces to engage in constructive dialogue.

"Our main task as international observers is to look at the electoral process objectively, comprehensively and impartially, and evaluate its compliance with national legislation and democratic standards. Today’s meetings with representatives of the parliamentary groups give us the full picture of the current campaign and confirm the high level of political culture and technological support for the elections," Rustam Shokhmurod emphasized.

The first item on the monitoring group’s agenda was the Federation Council, where the international observers met with deputy Chairman Yuri Vorobyov. The parties discussed the overall framework for monitoring and the role of legislators in ensuring the legitimacy of expression of citizens' will, as well as issues of election security.

At the Federation Council, the observers also spoke with the reporesentatives of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Vadim Dengin and Elena Afanasyeva.

At the State Duma, the members of the mission held meetings with representatives of all parliamentary factions. In particular, the observers met with MPs from the United Russia faction, Anatoly Vyborny and Maxim Topilin, who elaborated on the party’s work during the current election campaign.

Particular attention was paid to talking with the opposition leaders. The delegation met with Gennady Zyuganov, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and leader of the communist faction in the State Duma.

Detailed consultations also took place with Nikolai Novichkov and Alexander Vorobyov, representatives of the Socialist Political Party "A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth."

Members of the CSTO PA mission also discussed the progress of the election campaign with Vladislav Davankov, first deputy Head of the New People faction, meeting with him at the party’s headquarters.

During the talks, representatives of the political parties shared their impressions of the campaign period, the technical equipment at polling stations and the mechanisms for public oversight.

All the information gathered during the meetings will be reviewed and will serve as the basis of the CSTO PA observer mission final report.