DUSHANBE, February 24, 2010, Asia-Plus -- Member of the Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) also head of Tajik Journalists’ Union, Akbarali Sattorov, does not agree with concern expressed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) election observation mission for the February 28 parliamentary elections in Tajikistan regarding the transparency of CCER’s work.

We will recall that according to interim report No 2 released by the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission on February 22, the CCER has held no sessions since January 19, raising concerns about the transparency and accountability of its work.

“As member of CCER I consider that there is no necessity in holding sessions frequently,” said Mr. Sattorov, “The commission works twenty-four hours; each of us has certain duties and when it is necessary to approve anything, we convoke a session.”

Mr. Sattorov considers that concerns about the transparency of the commission’s work are “unfounded.”