(Adnkronos) – Eight Italian lawmakers are travelling to authoritarian Uzbekistan to observe the country’s parliamentary polls being held on Sunday, the lower house of parliament said in a statement.
The four Senators and four MPs will form part of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe observation mission and the Italian delegation is being led by its president, MP Eugenio Zoffili.
“This mission represents an important opportunity to contribute to the correct conduct of the parliamentary elections, thanks to our collaboration with delegations from 25 other countries,” said Zoffili.
“Together, we will work to ensure the transparency and legitimacy of the electoral process and contribute to strengthening the spirit of democracy in Uzbekistan,” he added.
The Italian delegation contains Senators Alessandro Alfieri, Anna Bilotti, Susanna Donatella Campione and Giuseppe De Cristofaro, as well as Zoffili and fellow MPs Vincenzo Amendola, Fabrizio Comba and Emanuele Loperfido, the statement said.
The Uzbekistan election observation mission is being deployed by OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
The 27 October polls are the Central Asian nation’s first since President Shavkat Mirziyoev – who won a third term last year in what monitors said was a poll “lacking genuine competition” – signed into law a mixed majority and proportional electoral system.
Uzbekistan’s dissidents say they persist in efforts to register their parties despite repeated rejections.
Uzbekistan is a member of OSCE, whose 323-member parliamentary Assembly’s chief task is to facilitate inter-parliamentary dialogue.
