OSCE Centre in Bishkek starts training seminars for election commission members

BISHKEK, 21 May 2010 - The OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the country's Central Election Commission (CEC) announced today the launch of a series of 20 planned training seminars for territorial election commission members ahead of Kyrgyzstan's 27 June constitutional referendum.

The training seminars are taking place as part of co-operation between the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the CEC. Some 550 territorial election commission members will be trained by the end of May.

"The forthcoming referendum is regarded as crucial for Kyrgyzstan. The OSCE Centre seeks to improve the professionalism and responsibility of election administration staff. This should contribute to conducting transparent voting that will help to ensure public confidence in the constitutional reform process," said Lilian Darii, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek.

The seminars will focus on the organization of preparatory work for the referendum and voting procedures on referendum day. The Centre in Bishkek, the IFES and the CEC have developed a special guide for the territorial election commission to be distributed among trainees.

"The schedule of preparatory activities for the referendum, which has been approved by the CEC, stipulates the training of members of election commissions. These training courses, which are conducted by highly-qualified trainers from the IFES jointly with the CEC and with OSCE support, will build the capacity of the election commissions to hold the referendum in line with national and international norms," said Gallia Alymbekova, a member of the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission.

The event was supported by the United States Agency for International Development.

The training seminars are part of OSCE assistance for the constitutional reform process and are organized by the Centre in Bishkek within the framework of the OSCE contingency funds package allocated on 29 April by the OSCE Permanent Council to support peace and stability in Kyrgyzstan.