U.S. Concerned Over Kazakh Parliament Elections

Kazakh President Nazarbaev 17 September 2004 -- The new U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan says the United States shares the concerns raised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe about the country's parliamentary elections on 19 September.

Ambassador John Ordway was speaking to reporters after presenting his credentials to President Nursultan Nazarbaev in the capital Astana.

His statement followed a critical report released this week by the OSCE. The report said Nazarbaev's Otan party and his daughter Dariga's Asar party dominated campaign advertising.

This complaint was seconded by Asylbek Kozhakhmetov, leader of the opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan Party. He said today most television channels had stopped running his party's commercials after a letter from the Central Election Commission.

(Reuters)