Lebedev: CIS laws superior to Western ones in terms of holding free elections

Electoral legislation in the Commonwealth of Independent States ensures the right to free expression of will by citizens to a greater extent than similar legislation in the West – as stated by the CIS Secretary General, Sergei Lebedev, at a briefing on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan, sb.by reports with reference to the CIS Executive Committee

“The CIS electoral legislation is not just approaching the so-called democratic norms, but also significantly surpassing them in the issue of respect for human rights. The legislation in our countries fully ensures the right of citizens to free expression of their will. The legislation of Uzbekistan, most importantly, ensures the right of citizens to express their free will," Mr. Lebedev said, adding that the CIS has repeatedly offered OSCE to introduce common approaches to the elections, but has not received a response.

“In many ways, our laws are more democratic than in Western countries, which criticise us for the alleged lack of democracy. I cannot but say that we have repeatedly suggested to our Western colleagues, in particular OSCE and OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, to develop common approaches to the assessment and monitoring of elections. However, for some reason, our proposals are not supported, and they are still trying to teach us how to organise elections,” Mr. Lebedev said.

Parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan will be held on October 27th. According to the Central Election Commission, a total of 375 candidates for the Legislative Chamber nominated by political parties in single-mandate districts, as well as 500 candidates on party lists nominated to deputies of the Legislative Chamber by political parties in a single electoral district, were registered.