We would like to welcome Ambassador Buhoara back to the Permanent Council and to thank him, his Mission, and the Joint Election Observation Mission to Tajikistan for their work on the February 27 Tajik parliamentary elections.

These elections were the first-ever multiparty parliamentary elections in Tajikistan. They constituted a milestone in the implementation of the 1997 Moscow Accords that ended Tajikistan's civil war.

The Joint Election Observation Mission of OSCE/ODIHR and the UN reported serious problems during the campaign period and on election day, problems which prevented Tajikistan from meeting minimum democratic standards for free, fair, and transparent elections.

The U.S. Government encourages the Government of Tajikistan to review the Joint Mission report and correct these irregularities in order to ensure that elections on March 25 for the upper house of Parliament meet Tajikistan’s OSCE commitments.

Following the elections, we hope the Government of Tajikistan will take further steps to consolidate the gains of the peace process, encouraging the incipient democratization of the country and ensuring that all groups in Tajikistan feel they have a voice and a stake in the country’s political system.

We look to Ambassador Buhoara and his Mission to show strong leadership in this process of further democratization.

Finally, we would like to commend the continued excellent work of the field offices in Tajikistan, and to welcome the opening of a new field office in Khojent.