On October 2002, the Commonwealth of Independent States adopted at a heads of states meeting, the Convention on the Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights, and Freedoms in the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This formed the CIS Election Monitoring Organization, which has since then been sending election observers to countries belonging to the CIS.

Several of these observation missions have been controversial, as their findings have been often in contradiction with the findings of other international organizations such as the OSCE, the Council of Europe, or the European Union. Commentators have accused the CIS observer missions as being subservient to Kremlin foreign policy.

Observation missions

Ukrainian mission and aftermath

The democratic nature of the final (repeat) round of the Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 which followed the Orange Revolution and brought into power the former opposition, was questioned by the CIS while the OSCE found no significant problems. This was the first time ever that the CIS observation teams challenged the validity of an election, saying that it should be considered illegitimate. A spokesman for the Ukrainian government, Markian Lubkivsky , criticized the statement saying "We believe such comments go beyond the framework of [the] normal functions of the observers".

After the CIS observation team's report concerning the Ukrainian election, the OSCE observer mission head, Bruce George, also condemned the CIS observers saying that they saw democracy different than the West and that "They haven't ever seen a good election and wouldn't know one if it hit them in the face."

On March 15, 2005, the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency quoted Dmytro Svystkov (a spokesman of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry) that Ukraine has suspended its participation in the CIS election monitoring organization. This was in result to the CIS observation team's report concerning the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election. [1]

Other missions

Examples of other such observation missions concerning disputed elections include:

• The CIS praised the Uzbekistan parliamentary elections, 2005 as "legitimate, free and transparent" while the OSCE had referred to the Uzbek elections as having fallen "significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections". [2][3]

• Moldovan authorities refused to invite CIS observers in the Moldovan parliamentary elections, 2005, an action Russia criticized. [4] Many dozens such observers from Belarus and Russia were stopped from reaching Moldova [5]. Finally, the CIS observer mission accused Moldovan authorities of rigging the election in favour of the (considered pro-Western) Communist government. [6]. In contrast the OSCE Mission found the parliamentary elections "generally in compliance" with most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments. [7]

• CIS observers monitored the Tajikistan parliamentary elections, 2005 and in the end declared them "legal, free and transparent." [8]. The same elections were pronounced by the OSCE to have failed international standards for democratic elections. [9]

• CIS observers hailed the Kyrgyz parliamentary elections of 2005 as well-organized, free, and fair. In contrast the OSCE reported that the elections fell short of international standards in many areas.

Non-governmental organization with same name

In December 2003, a non-governmental organization calling itself the CIS Elections Monitoring Organization (or CIS-EMO) registered itself in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. A spokesman for the group claimed that it had no connection to the official CIS monitors. The role and significance of this group has caused amounts of confusion to many, given the similarity in both its name and its reports with those of the official CIS monitors. The head of the organization is Aleksei Kochetkov .

References and articles

• Radio Free Liberty article -- CIS: Monitoring The Election Monitors