Kazakh Election Commission Nixes CIS Observer Group

Deputy Prosecutor-General Askhat Dautbaev explained that Kazakhstan allows international organizations to monitor its elections, but he said the CIS-EMO is "a foreign NGO registered in Russia in accordance with that country's laws," Khabar reported.
 
"We made a mistake [in originally accrediting CIS-EMO]," Kazakh TV1 quoted Election Commission Chairman Onalsyn Zhumabekov as saying.
 
Meanwhile, CIS-EMO mission head Marina Bogdanovich said her organization intends to appeal the commission's decision, Khabar reported.
 
CIS-EMO was founded in Nizhnii Novgorod in December 2003, RFE/RL reported in April.
 
Its missions are distinct from official CIS observer missions, but the CIS-EMO has produced reports on recent CIS elections that were consistent with the findings of CIS observer missions and contrary to the findings of OSCE observer missions.