“I am convinced that the main mission of international observers is monitoring electoral process in accordance with universally recognized international standards. Therefore, it
is hard to understand the reasons of the OSCE’s decision not to send observers
for the elections which will be held in our country in September. Russia is one
of the OSCE member states and we are ready to welcome observation missions. We
have nothing to hide,” said Chairman of the Commission on the Investigation of Foreign Interference in Russia's Internal Affairs Vasilii Piskarev
Vasily Ivanovich
.
He added that the decision of the ODIHR and the OSCE PA not to send observers to the forthcoming elections in Russia followed the recommendations not to recognize the results of the September elections. Such proposal was announced by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament.
The Chairman of the Committee
on International Affairs Leonid Slutskiy
Leonid Eduardovich
said that the OSCE and ODIHR had taken
a conscious, scandalous decision, obviously, for speculative purposes.
“It is regrettable that such decision was taken. However, if there are no OSCE observers, there still will be legitimate elections of members of the new convocation of the State Duma,” he said.
Deputy Chairman of the State
Duma Petr Tolstoy
Petr Olegovich
stressed that there were 20 OSCE observers at the elections
in the United States and Kazakhstan, five in the Netherlands, while they
decided to send 500 representatives to observe elections in Russia.
“We are always glad to welcome different representatives, but such intensions do not show real objectivity and impartiality of the mission, but demonstrate quite the opposite. It seems like the instructions are stronger than common sense,” the parliamentarian said.
He also recalled that it was not the first case when the OSCE structures decided not to send observers for the elections in Russia because of the disagreement with the number of observers proposed by the Russian side. There was the same situation in 2007. However, Russia had always supported equality of observation missions, as said Petr Tolstoy.
The parliamentarian stressed that an international observation mission should respect the accreditation rules of the country. According to him, the ODIHR tried to blackmail Russia, initiated the negotiation process and intended to be the main and almost the only international organization to observe the elections in Russia, but the Russian Federation did not yield to pressure.
“We do not need endorsement and advice of the Western states how to develop our political system. It is already clear to everyone that Russia does not follow and will not live according to foreign patterns and rules. We have our own choices, our own laws and our own path. And you should respect that, and should not try to impose the cargo cult of Western values in the form of ultimatums. We do not recognize and will never recognize division into so-called “perfect” and “failed” democracies,” said Petr Tolstoy.
“You can come and learn from our experience. By the way, hundreds of observers, including representatives of the Council of Europe, plan to come to Moscow. The weather is good in Moscow in September. We are waiting for you to come here,” added the parliamentarian.
