BISHKEK, 9 October 2010 – A delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly under the leadership of the Norwegian member of parliament, Morten Hoeglund, has arrived in Kyrgyzstan to observe Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

Mr. Hoeglund, an experienced election observer, has also been appointed as OSCE Special Co-ordinator by Kanat Saudabayev, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister. In this capacity, Mr. Hoeglund heads of the short-term OSCE election observers and will deliver the preliminary post-election statement at a press conference on Monday, 11 October at 15:00 (local time) at the Hyatt Hotel in Bishkek. He will be followed by Katarina Nevedalova, head of the delegation from the European Parliament, and Corien Jonker, head of the OSCE/ODIHR long-term election observation mission.

This international observeration comprises a total of 266 observers from 36 countries, including 40 long-term and 206 short-term observers deployed by the OSCE/ODIHR, as well as nine parliamentarians and staff from the OSCE PA, and eleven from the European Parliament.

The Parliamentary Assembly's election observation mission to Kyrgyzstan takes place in the middle of a series of election observation mission this fall, starting with Bosnia and Herzegovina last Sunday, and continuing with Kyrgyzstan, the mid-term elections in the United States on 2 November, the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan on 7 November, and the parliamentary elections in Moldova on 28 November.

For further information contact:

Jens-Hagen Eschenbächer, OSCE/ODIHR, +996 778 809 133 or +48 603 683 122, [email protected]

Anna Chernova, OSCE PA, +996 778 809 827 or +45 60 10 83 83, [email protected]

Carlo Chicco, EP, +996 778 809 712 or +32 498 981 444, [email protected]