OSCE welcomes peaceful voting during referendum in Tajikistan, but notes shortcomings in electoral framework

DUSHANBE, 24 June 2003 - The OSCE Centre in Dushanbe and the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today welcomed the calm and quiet atmosphere in which the voting for the constitutional referendum on 22 June took place. While the OSCE did not deploy an observation mission for the referendum and thus was not in a position to comment on the voting, counting and tabulation processes, the two OSCE offices noted that the unusually high turnout of 96 per cent raises concerns regarding the accuracy of the reporting of results.

In a political assessment, made with the assistance of an election expert deployed by the ODIHR, shortcomings are identified in the legislative framework for holding referendums, particularly with regard to ensuring adequate levels of transparency in the counting and tabulation process.

The OSCE Centre and the ODIHR noted that the referendum process would have benefited from greater levels of public consultation, especially in advance of the parliamentary decision to hold the referendum, and from more equal campaign opportunities for both supporters and opponents of the proposed amendments. Also, the decision to propose a single question for the referendum limited voters from expressing their opinions on the range of important constitutional amendments.

In a positive development, domestic non-partisan observers were able to monitor election day procedures. The OSCE Centre and the ODIHR reiterated their previous recommendations to improve the electoral process and will continue to support a cross-party initiative to improve election legislation ahead of the next parliamentary elections in 2005. It is recommended that the initiative also addresses shortcomings in the current referendum law.