SCO Observer Mission monitored elections of members of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan and Halk Maslahaty of velayats, etraps, cities and gengeshes
A delegation of the SCO RATS Executive Committee, headed by Deputy Secretary General of the SCO Grigory Logvinov and comprising Advisor Li Keming, Assistant Advisor Liu Gan and Assistant Jiang Yuhang (hereinafter the Mission) took part in the SCO Observer Mission at the elections of members of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, members of the Halk Maslahaty of velayats, etraps, cities and gengeshes, fr om March 25 to March 27, 2023.
The Mission also included: chief expert of the international department of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan Adilkhan Bizhanov; Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Zhang Wei; member of the Central Commission for Elections and Referendums of the Kyrgyz Republic Aidana Zhupueva; Military Attache of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Turkmenistan Mahmud Taimur; member of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Alexey Chepa; Senator of the Russian Federation, member of the Committee of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on constitutional legislation and state building Nikolai Vladimirov; member of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation Andrey Shutov; member of the Central Commission for Elections and Referendums of the Republic of Tajikistan Yusufzoda Salimi Nosirjon; Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Turkmenistan Akmaljon Kuchkarov.
On March 25, the SCO Observer Mission headed by the Deputy Secretary General of the SCO Grigory Logvinov started monitoring the elections of members of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan and Halk Maslahaty of velayats, etraps, cities and gengeshes.
The mission visited 15 polling stations in Ashgabat and Akhal velayat, wh ere they assessed the preparation of the election process, the general atmosphere and the observance of the “silence” principle.
On March 27, representatives of the SCO Observer Mission held a briefing for the media on the results of the elections of members of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan and members of the Halk Maslahaty of velayats, etraps, cities and gengeshes. They noted the responsible civil position of the people during the voting and the high level of professional competence of employees of precinct election commissions. There were no incidents at the polling stations. On the contrary, the voting took place in a festive atmosphere. No hindrances were created for the work of national and international observers. The Mission did not observe any violations of the norms of national legislation that could cast doubt on the legitimacy of the elections. The mission recognizes the past elections as transparent, reliable and democratic ones.
During his address, the head of the SCO observers highly appreciated the organization and holding of elections of the members of Mejlis of Turkmenistan and members of the Halk Maslahaty of velayats, etraps, cities and gengeshes, which took place in accordance with the requirements of the electoral legislation of Turkmenistan and international obligations adopted by the country. The Mission of Observers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization expresses its gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Central commission for holding elections and referendums in Turkmenistan for their assistance in ensuring the performance of the Mission within its competence.