On December 22, Uzbekistan held elections to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis (Supreme Assembly) of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The elections were declared valid. According to the preliminary data of the Uzbekistani Central Election Commission, the voter turnout was about 70 percent, or over 13.9 million people. Congratulations to our Uzbekistani friends on the successful holding of such an important and large-scale event.

For our part, at the request of our Uzbekistani partners, we provided them with all the necessary assistance. Eight polling stations were opened in Russia at Uzbekistan’s foreign offices (two in Moscow and one each in St Petersburg, Kazan, Vladivostok, Rostov-on-Don, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg). Early voting was also held at the mentioned polling stations.

About 140,000 local observers and over 800 representatives from nine international organisations monitored the elections in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

According to observers from the CIS and the SCO, the elections were held at a high organisational level and in strict accordance with the national legislation and international standards.

We regret to note that observers from the ODIHR and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, as expected, presented biased, subjective final assessments, although, in general, they did not cast doubt on the positive changes in the election process.

The Russian side is committed to constructive work with the new membership of the Legislative Chamber of the Uzbekistani parliament, including within inter-parliamentary assemblies of key international organisations.