Presidential Election, 10 July 2005

ODIHR, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and the European Parliament deployed an international election observation mission to monitor the presidential election on 10 July 2005.

For the election, the OSCE/ODIHR deployed 299 short-term observers from 43 OSCE participating States.

According to the final report: "the election marked tangible progress by the Kyrgyz Republic towards meeting OSCE commitments, as well as other international standards for democratic elections. This was the case in particular during the pre-election period and the conduct of voting, although the quality of the election day process deteriorated somewhat during the counting of votes. Fundamental civil and political rights, such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, were generally respected throughout the election process."

Long-term observation

The mission, headed by Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj of Slovakia, consisted of 15 international staff based in Bishkek and 26 long-term observers deployed in the regions.

The mission assessed the entire electoral process in terms of its compliance with international standards for democratic elections and national legislation.

It focused on the election campaign, the legislative framework and its implementation, the media situation, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, and the resolution of election-related disputes.

Election day

ODIHR requested 300 short-term observers to be deployed immediately prior to the 10 July election. The short-term observers were deployed around the country in teams of two to monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting of ballots, and the tabulation of results.

The day after the election, the mission held a press conference and issued a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions.

Previous elections

ODIHR observed the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan in February 2005 and subsequently made a number of Interim recommendations in advance of the 10 July presidential elections. ODIHR also observed the parliamentary and presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan in April and October 2000, respectively.