International election observers to hold press conference in Astana Sunday

ASTANA, 16 August 2007 - The International Election Observation Mission deployed to monitor the 18 August parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan will announce its preliminary findings and conclusions at a news conference on Sunday.

The mission is a joint undertaking of the OSCE, comprising the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The statement will be delivered by Senator Consiglio Di Nino, Head of the OSCE PA delegation and Special Co-Ordinator of the OSCE short-term observers, together with David Wilshire, the Head of the PACE delegation and Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj, the Head of the ODIHR long-term election observation mission.

Journalists are invited to attend the news conference at 15:00 on Sunday, 19 August, at the Rixos hotel, (Ball room), 1 Taulzisdik str., Astana.

For further information, please contact:

Klas Bergman, OSCE PA, tel.: +7 701 795 0486, klas@oscepa.dk  
Urdur Gunnarsdottir, OSCE/ODIHR, tel.: +7 701 795 0500, urdur@odihr.pl  
Bas Klein, PACE, tel.: +33 662 265 489, bas.klein@coe.int