Press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

VIENNA, 19 June 2009 - The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly today. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

Senator Di Nino to lead election observation mission to Kyrgyzstan

COPENHAGEN, 18 June 2009 - OSCE PA President Joao Soares has appointed Senator Consiglio Di Nino (Canada) to lead the Parliamentary Assembly's election observation mission to the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan on 23 July.

Senator Di Nino, who is the Head of Canada's Delegation to the OSCE PA and Vice-Chair of its General Committee on Political Affairs and Security, has played a leading role in several observation missions in the past. In 2007, he led the Assembly's observation mission to Kazakhstan where he also served as the OSCE Special Co-ordinator to lead the short term OSCE Observer Mission.

Mr. Di Nino has been a member of the Senate of Canada since 1990 and is currently Chairman of the Senate's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He is also a member of its Standing Committees on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament, and on National Finance.

President Soares last week visited Kyrgyzstan where he held talks with, among others, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Originally, the Kyrgyz authorities had set limits to the number of OSCE observers to the 23 July election. But during the meeting between President Bakiyev and Mr. Soares an agreement was reached enabling a full mission.

"We do not accept restrictions on our ability to deploy a comprehensive mission, so I am pleased with the flexibility shown by the Kyrgyz authorities," said President Soares. "It will allow the OSCE to conduct a thorough and un-biased observation mission."