Two CIS election observers from Belarus, identified as Alyaksandr Metelskyy
and Vasil Streyko, told Tajik TV on 27th February that they had observed no
violations during the polling in Tajikistan's parliamentary elections that
day.

"We did not observe violations in the constitutional law on elections of
deputies to the Majlisi Oli [Supreme Assembly] during our visits to polling
stations. Our opinion fully coincides with the views of observers of the UN
and OSCE that the elections in the Republic of Tajikistan are in line with
international standards," Metelskyy said.

"The Central Election [and Referendum] Commission has created equal
conditions both for political parties and the electorate both during the
election campaign and during the polling itself. The high turnout of the
electorate is the proof that the elections are nationwide. We ascertained
during visiting the polling stations that the elections were free and
secret," he added.

Streyko said: "We do not know the results of the elections fully yet, but we
are confident that the most worthy will become deputies, because all the
principles stipulated by international norms and standards were observed by
the Central Election [and Referendum] Commission and precinct electoral
commissions."

Source: Tajik Television first channel, Dushanbe, in Russian 1400 gmt 27 Feb
00
BBC Mon CAU 270200/** VA/MI