COPENHAGEN, 11 January 2012 – The OSCE Chair-in-Office, Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore, on Monday appointed OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Emeritus Joao Soares Special Co-ordinator to lead the OSCE election observation mission to the 15 January early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan.

"I look forward to seeing how Kazakhstan's electoral process functions since legal changes were enacted after the 2007 parliamentary elections," Soares said today. "As Chair-in-Office in 2010, Kazakhstan worked hard to promote the OSCE, now we will observe how the country is upholding their OSCE commitments to democratic elections."

OSCE PA observers are scheduled to deploy to several areas of Kazakhstan, including Astana, Almaty, Oskemen, Pavlodar, Karaganda, Kyzylorda, Oral, and Atyrau. Observers are also expected to visit Aktau in the region of Mangystau, where deadly clashes recently took place between striking oil workers and police.

Soares addressed the OSCE short-term observers in Astana today, reminding them of the great obligation election observers have as the eyes and ears – and the voice – of the international community. He will deliver the post-election statement on behalf of the OSCE at a news conference in Astana Monday.

Soares is a Member of Parliament from Portugal and serves as the Assembly's Special Representative on the South Caucasus. He was President of the Assembly from 2008-2010 and has previously led five OSCE PA observer delegations, most recently to the United States in November 2010. He has visited Kazakhstan several times, meeting with representatives of civil society and media, as well as working closely with colleagues in the Parliament of Kazakhstan, and the OSCE Centre in Astana.

The OSCE election observation mission, comprising the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, is joined by colleagues from the Council of Europe. The elections are being assessed on the basis of Kazakhstan's election-related commitments laid out in the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has observed seven elections in Kazakhstan since 1994, most recently the early presidential election last April.