Sco News

On 11 April 2021, international observers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation were working at polling stations in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, and nearby communities. They were monitoring a nationwide referendum regarding the draft Law of the Kyrgyz Republic on the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Natalia Kosikhina, Deputy Chair of the Committee on Science, Education and Culture of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, coordinated the work of the SCO Observer Mission in Kyrgyzstan. The members of the Mission had a meeting with Nurjan Shaildabekova, Chair of the Kyrgyz Republic's Central Commission on Elections and Referenda. Those taking part at the gathering covered the current work dealing with the preparations for and the holding of a referendum on the draft Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Accredited observers from among the SCO Secretariat's staff also visited a polling station at the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic to the People's Republic of China.

The Mission's members produced a representative cross section of the voting process in Kyrgyzstan and also monitored the voting at a Kyrgyz diplomatic mission abroad.

According to their preliminary estimates, the voting process is proceeding openly and calmly in Kyrgyzstan and outside the republic. Observers have noted the positive mood of the Kyrgyz citizens and the high professionalism of district election commissions' personnel, with due consideration for the epidemiological measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

After comparing the results of their work, members of the SCO Observer Mission are to issue their concluding statement on the morning of 12 April 2021 in Bishkek.