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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000746 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZ ELECTION: OSCE FINDS SOME PROBLEMS, LACKS 
OBSERVERS 
 
REF: A. BISHKEK 721 
     ¶B. BISHKEK 668 
     ¶C. BISHKEK 662 
     ¶D. BISHKEK 651 
     ¶E. BISHKEK 595 
     ¶F. BISHKEK 521 
 
BISHKEK 00000746  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  On July 9, the Organization for Security 
and Cooperation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions 
and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) Election Observation Mission 
(EOM) held a second briefing for diplomatic representatives 
to highlight the mission's interim findings regarding the 
July 23 presidential election.  The EOM head said that 
administrative preparations are proceeding, but also noted 
several problems, including denial of membership in election 
commissions to opposition party members, and reports that 
media coverage is biased towards President Bakiyev.  In other 
campaign news, few debates have taken place as planned. 
Neither President Bakiyev nor United People's Movement 
candidate Almazbek Atambayev attended a July 3 roundtable 
debate on state television, and most candidates have avoided 
the scheduled one-on-one radio and television debates, for a 
variety of interesting reasons.  End Summary. 
 
OSCE Mission Observes Problems 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) On July 9, the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and 
Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) Election Observation Mission (EOM) 
held a second briefing for diplomatic representatives to 
highlight observations of the long-term observers and other 
events related to the July 23 presidential election. 
Representatives from Germany, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, 
Russia, Tajikistan, UNDP, and the U.S. attended. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) EOM Head Radmila Sekerinska said that in accordance 
with election legislation, a total of 2331 voting precincts 
have been established and over 20,000 district and 
rayon-level election commission members have been appointed 
and are receiving training.  Long-term observers noted that 
the representatives of some opposition candidates were denied 
election commission membership on petty grounds, including 
the use of a national party stamp on application forms, 
instead of a local one, incomplete family names, and missing 
signatures.  This observation was in line with an election 
report released earlier this week by the NGO Alliance "Time 
For My Choice" (ref A). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Sekerinska highlighted the considerable advantages 
that the incumbent Bakiyev had over other opposition 
candidates.  She noted recent reports that indicate a 
significant bias in media coverage in favor of President 
Bakiyev, and also a sizeable advantage in campaign financing 
(ref A). 
 
¶4. (SBU) Sekerinska said that United People's Movement (UPM) 
candidate Almazbek Atambayev had filed a complaint with the 
Central Election Commission (CEC) for seizing his party's 
campaign leaflets.  News reports quoted the prosecutor 
general's office as stating that the leaflets offended the 
"honor and dignity of another candidate for the presidency", 
namely President Bakiyev.  Sekerinska said that Atambayev 
appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, but they rejected 
his case. After the brief, ODIHR staff told Poloff that the 
leaflets' primary theme was: "a vote for Bakiyev is a vote 
for four more years of corruption and instability". 
 
EOM Still Looking for Observers 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Sekerinska noted that the EOM may not meet its goal 
 
BISHKEK 00000746  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
of fielding 300 short-term observers on election day, because 
only 200 observers have registered.  She reiterated her 
appeal for volunteers from member states' diplomatic missions 
to fill slots as locally recruited observers, noting that the 
deadline to register is July 13.  In addition, Sekerinska 
said that two domestic observer organizations, "Time For My 
Choice" and "For Fair Elections", have already recruited over 
3000 and 2000 long and short-term observers respectively. 
 
¶6. (U) Sekerinska said that the EOM would release a second 
interim report in the coming days and would hold additional 
briefings for OSCE member states and international 
organizations as the election campaign progresses. 
 
Candidates Duck Debates 
----------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The CEC put together a comprehensive schedule of 
candidate pairings for radio and television debates, and 
scheduled an impromptu roundtable, but these opportunities 
for national exposure have not been embraced wholeheartedly 
by the candidates.  On July 3, Kyrgyz State Television (KTR) 
held an election roundtable that was broadcast live, but both 
President Bakiyev and UPM candidate Atambayev did not attend, 
citing busy campaign schedules.  The four remaining 
candidates participated, primarily to discuss their political 
platforms. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Shortly after the CEC announced debate pairings, 
candidate Jenishbek Nazaraliyev announced that he had 
"nothing to say" to his putative debate partner Nurlan 
Motuyev, and would not debate him.  Motuyev later passed on 
the favor, saying that he refused to debate President 
Bakiyev, whom he considered an ally, because it could 
"distract him from affairs of state."  The UPM's Atambayev 
demurred on debating Temir Sariyev, until recently also of 
the UPM, because it might lend credence to the notion that 
there is a "rift in the opposition."  And President Bakiyev's 
campaign announced, in a letter to KTR, that the President's 
busy schedule would not allow him to participate in a 
television debate with Tokayim Umetaliyeva.  The single 
contest that has taken place to date, a radio debate between 
Umetaliyeva and Nazaraliyev, was wholly non-contentious, with 
the candidates largely agreeing with one another. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Embassy will continue to monitor and report on 
developments leading up to the July 23 Presidential election. 
LITZENBERGER