The main issue at the plenary meeting of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS MPs) in St. Petersburg was the role of international monitoring of electoral processes in protecting state sovereignty. Participants adopted recommendations for monitoring electronic voting and protecting electoral sovereignty.
As stated by the president of the Federation Council and the president of the CIS MPs Council Valentina Matvienko, opening 57. the session, election observation became one of the most important missions of the CIS MPs. This year marks the 30th anniversary of this area of work of the Assembly.
According to Matvienko, the result of serious work in the field of modeling the law was 21 documents prepared by the MPs commissions. "Among the regulatory legal acts, a significant part consists of documents prepared by the MPs in order to regulate the electoral sphere, and for us they have not only legislative importance, but also quite practical. They regulate the activities of international observers from the CIS, who inevitably participate in monitoring the electoral campaigns of the countries of the community,“ she said.
"In the current geopolitical situation, the topic of international monitoring of electoral processes is current for all our countries," said the president of the Federation Council. International election observation should be based on a number of principles, including universality, reciprocity, transparency, impartiality, political non-engagement and a focus on effective assistance, Matvienko stressed.
As Matvienko noted, "CIS countries are characterized by the most respectable attitude towards international monitoring of electoral processes". According to her, "a solid legal basis for monitoring the electoral process is the Convention on standards of democratic elections, rights and freedoms in CIS member states: for more than two decades, the convention has become an international guarantee of the protection of electoral law and a real instrument for ensuring the electoral rights of citizens in the post – Soviet space" - elections in CIS countries are held "in a fair fight".
Photo: international election observers from Serbia (Dragana Trifkovic),
Latvia (Ruslan Pankratov), Germany (Olga Peterson)
"We welcome the desire of non-CIS states to join the convention. The Russian electoral system was developed in accordance with this convention. Today it is one of the best, and it is recognized in the World – effective, technological and Democratic. This is particularly noticeable against the background of the real degeneration of electoral democracy in the countries of the so-called Western world,“ the president of the Federation Council stressed. Among the resolutions adopted by the MPs are "recommendations for monitoring electronic voting" and "recommendations for ensuring and protecting the electoral sovereignty of the state". According to the chairman of the Standing Commission of the CIS MPs for the study of the experiences of state and local self-government building, the chairman of the Standing Commission of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Valentin Semenyak, these recommendations are aimed at bringing closer the legislation of the CIS member states, as well as promoting cooperation and exchange of best practices in order to ensure free election of our voters without external interference.
As Dragana Trifkovic, director general of the Center for geostrategic studies (Serbia) pointed out, the joint decisions made within the framework of the CIS MPs event in St. Petersburg are important not only for CIS countries, but also far beyond their borders. "The documents approved by the participants contain the principles of objective international observation of Elections, non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, respect for national legislation and assistance in ensuring the full realization of citizens' electoral rights. Today, when supposedly democratic standards are imposed on the world, under which the West interferes in the free course of the political process, it is very important to promote an objective approach,“ she said. The CIS MPs is an authoritative institution, which already has about 130 observation missions. During monitoring in different countries, the missions set the task of impartially assessing the election process, Trifkovic said. "Mission representatives do not make pre – prepared judgments and do not try to put pressure on observers-this is one of the serious problems that my colleagues and I have faced for several years. It is very important that the topic of international observation and its role in the development of democracy became key at the plenary session of the Interparliamentary Assembly. And the need to create legal mechanisms for the protection of international observers was particularly emphasized,“ explained Dragana Trifkovic.
Photo: Dragana Trifkovic at the session of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly
The Kazakh authorities will continue to cooperate with the MPs in monitoring the election processes to ensure their openness and transparency, said the Speaker of the Senate (upper house) of the Kazakh Parliament, Maulen Ashimbayev. According to him, the institution of international observation has become an important and integral part of the electoral processes in the CIS, helping to increase their transparency and openness. "International observation is not only a check on the observance of electoral procedures, but also an important mechanism that promotes the rule of law and democratic processes. This approach allows us to ensure that the election processes are in line with international standards,“ the Senate President explained.
According to the Speaker of the Upper House of the Parliament of Tajikistan Rustam Emomali, thanks to the activities of this institute, the national legislative framework for the preparation and implementation of elections has been significantly improved. Parliamentarians also expect the active participation of international observers under the auspices of this institution in monitoring the upcoming parliamentary elections in Tajikistan in early 2025. years.
Speaker of the Senate Oli Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva emphasized a special place in the activities of the MPP, which, in her opinion, is occupied by the observation mission, which began its work in 1994. year: promotes the organization of elections in accordance with international standards, contributes to the improvement and harmonization of the electoral system. There are 27 in Uzbekistan. the October parliamentary elections, which became an important step in strengthening democratic processes: one of the achievements of these elections was the increase in the representation of women in parliament, which increased from 32% to 38%, Narbaeva said.
According to the chairman of the Standing Commission of the Council of the Republic for international affairs and national security of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Aleynik, election campaigns are increasingly being used by the West as an element of destabilization of the state for external interference and various hybrid threats. In this regard, it is necessary to search for new forms of preserving security, further strengthening the electoral sovereignty of our states, relying on tradition and National features,“ he believes. Equally important role in the election are information strategies aimed at combating manipulation and disinformation, said Alejnik. "The creation of effective communication channels and the increase of the media literacy of the population will enable the formation of a conscious public opinion, which will contribute to the critical attitude of the population towards external information influences," said the parliamentarian.
Translation from Russian: Center for geostrategic studies
24. December 2024.
![[Matt Rourke/AP photo]](https://geostrategy.rs/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/biden.jpg)
