Umakhan Umakhanov: a dialogue between the CSTO PA observers with other international organizations is important

On June 24, at a remote coordination meeting of heads of parliamentary delegations of the CSTO PA Member States to the OSCE PA, deputy Chairman of the CSTO PA Standing Committee on Socioeconomic and Legal Issues, deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Umakhan Umakhanov called the monitoring of elections in the CSTO Member States and the OSCE PA Member States an important area of work of the CSTO PA and the OSCE PA.
He recalled that in 2021 Kazakhstan and Armenia held parliamentary elections, while the Kyrgyz Republic held a presidential election and referenda.
The election to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the parliamentary election in the Kyrgyz Republic are scheduled for this autumn.
“During the election observation process, the parliamentary groups of the CSTO PA and the OSCE PA usually exchange opinions on the course of observation, and the practice of such meetings should be continued,” Umakhan Umakhanov noted.
At the same time, he stressed that assessments of the election process by the CSTO PA and OSCE PA observers do not always coincide, and it is important to organize with the OSCE PA colleagues a discussion “of a regulatory framework for evaluating the democratic nature of elections.”
Since the OSCE election observation process is guided by the 1990 Protocol which stipulates that democratic elections should be free and fair, but that does not specify these categories in any way, it enables double standards in elections assessment, Umakhan Umakhanov believes.
In turn, the CSTO PA follows the Convention on Standards of Democratic Election, Voting Rights and Freedoms in the Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States ratified by all parliaments of the CSTO States, which details all these definitions.
Umakhan Umakhanov proposed the OSCE PA to develop a similar convention based on the CIS Convention, recalling that such initiative was considered in 2003 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and was supported by a relevant resolution.
“I think it is right to return to this issue in the OSCE format and with this purpose organize joint discussions on democratic election standards with OSCE PA parliamentarians,” Umakhan Umakhanov noted.
In conclusion, Umakhan Umakhanov recalled the words of Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the CSTO PA and Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, that the CSTO PA is an important platform for dialogue. And the Coordination Meetings once again confirm this idea.