THE NEW YORK TIMES THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 1 March 2010 DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) -- Rampant fraud including ballot-box stuffing and proxy voting marred Tajikistan's weekend parliamentary elections, international observers said Monday, while the opposition threatened legal challenges. Results have yet to be announced, but Sunday's election was expected to confirm President Emomali Rakhmon's two-decade grip on power over the impoverished Central

BBC NEWS 1 March 2010 Voting in Tajikistan's elections last week was marred by widespread fraud, international monitors have said. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the polls had "failed on many basic democratic standards". It said there was evidence of ballot stuffing and proxy voting and media coverage of campaigning was minimal. President Emomali Rakhmon is widely expected to win the elections - his party

REUTERS 1 March 2010 DUSHANBE: Serious irregularities including ballot-box stuffing mean Sunday's parliamentary election in Tajikistan failed to meet basic democratic standards, Europe's main election watchdog said on Monday. "I'm happy that election day took place in a generally good atmosphere but I'm even more disappointed that these elections failed on many basic democratic standards," Pia Christmas- Moller, vice president of the

ALJAZEERA.NET 1 March 2010 International election observers have said Tajikistan's legislative elections were marred by "serious irregularities" including ballot stuffing The vote had failed to meet democratic standards, monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and European parliament said in a statement on Monday. Observers "highlighted serious irregularities on election day, including a high prevalence of

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 1 March 2010 By Farangis Najibullah According to Tajikistan's election officials, President Emomali Rahmon's People's Democratic Party is on course to win the vast majority of 63 seats in the next parliament -- winning nearly 72 percent of the vote. For the first time, the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) appears to have moved ahead of the Communist Party. Partial results give the party 7.7 percent of the vote.

TREND NEWS 23 February 2010 Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.23 / Trend News, E. Ostapenko / A high-level delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), headed by President Joao Soares and the Special Representative on Nagorno-Karabakh Goran Lennmarker, will pay a three day visit to Azerbaijan in mid-March, the OSCE said. The OSCE PA's delegation will visit Azerbaijan March 13-16 within a regional visit to all three South Caucasus countries.