OSCE/ODIHR director presents plans for observation of Duma elections to Russian authorities

MOSCOW, 14 September 2011 – The Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, presented ODIHR’s plans for observing the upcoming parliamentary elections to the Russian authorities during a two-day visit to Moscow which ended today.

In his meetings with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Central Election Commission Chairman Vladimir Churov and other senior officials, Lenarčič said ODIHR is ready to send an election observation mission comprising a core team of experts as well as 60 long-term and 200 short-term observers to monitor the elections.

“The scope and size of the observation mission we envisage is based on what is necessary to monitor the elections comprehensively and in a manner that is consistent with the highest standards of professionalism and integrity,” Lenarčič said. 

An advance team of ODIHR experts was in Moscow in August for consultations with the authorities, political parties and civil society to assess the pre-election situation and establish the format of a possible observation mission. The team’s report is available here. 

Lenarčič stressed that the elections would be assessed on the basis of the standards to which all OSCE participating States have agreed.

As a participating State of the OSCE, the Russian Federation has committed itself to conduct elections in line with the principles included in the Organization’s 1990 Copenhagen Document and invite observers from ODIHR to monitor compliance with these standards.

Lenarčič said ODIHR will remain in close contact with the Central Election Commission and expressed the hope that ODIHR would soon receive an official invitation to observe the elections as outlined during the visit.