Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry pledges democratic presidential elections

Text of report by the Kyrgyz news agency Kabar on 18th October

Bishkek, 18th October: "Kyrgyzstan will make all the necessary efforts to ensure genuinly free and democratic presidential elections in the country on 29th October in line with the OSCE principles and on the basis of the values on which the cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the European Union is based," a statement by the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry says.

The Foreign Ministry made this statement following a statement on 10th October by the European Union on the upcoming presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan. The ministry says that Kyrgyzstan welcomes the [OSCE] decision to send a mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, to monitor the elections.

The Central Electoral Commission, the government and other Kyrgyz official institutions have created all the necessary conditions for the mission to carry out its mission without hindrance and successfully. The participation of international and local observers, who represent a wide spectrum of political parties and NGOs, is of great significance in terms of ensuring transparent elections.

The Foreign Ministry states that equal conditions have been created for all the six candidates for presidency to carry out their election campaigns in strict compliance with the requirements of the national law and international commitments.

Source: Kabar news agency, Bishkek, in Russian 1515 gmt 18 Oct 00

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Posted October 24, 2000 © Eurasianet
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