Parliamentary Elections, 20 February and 12 March 2000

ODIHR established an Election Observation Mission in Bishkek on 4 January 2000 to observe the parliamentary elections scheduled for 20 February and a second round of voting on 12 March.

The final report is based on the findings of 17 long-term observers and experts. It also incorporates the observations of 115 short-term observers for the first round of the election, including a delegation of 15 from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and 70 short-term observers for the second round.

According to the report: "Both rounds of the 2000 parliamentary elections in the Kyrgyz Republic were characterised by a series of negative trends, that ultimately prevented a number of political parties and candidates from competing in the election on a fair and equal basis. The pre-election period was marred by a high degree of interference in the process by state officials, a lack of independence of the courts, resulting in a selective use of legal sanctions against candidates, and a bias in the state media."