MINSK, August 12. /TASS/. A CIS observer mission has begun monitoring the elections of State Duma deputies, while the mission's headquarters will deal with organizational and methodological support, said a spokesperson for the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth.

According to the spokesperson, Ilkhom Nematov, head of the CIS observer mission and deputy secretary general of the CIS, met with Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova, who informed him in detail about the ongoing work related to the preparation and conduct of elections and the course of the election campaign.

Nematov spoke about the main approaches to the organization and conduct of monitoring activities by the participating states and bodies of the Commonwealth. He noted that this is the 11th CIS observer mission in Russia, and currently the monitoring organizers have accumulated considerable experience in providing the most complete and comprehensive study of various aspects of election campaigns.

"The CIS observer mission will conduct monitoring based on the principles of openness, neutrality, non-interference in the internal affairs of the state and in the electoral process, as well as in strict accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. The mission's task is to collect reliable information about the course of the election campaign and the preparations for voting and draw conclusions based on this. The key objective of the mission is to promote the formation of a parliamentary corps that will properly protect the interests of the common people in the future. The work of the observers will be regularly covered in the media and on the CIS website," the spokesperson quoted the deputy secretary general as saying.

The mission will include more than 100 people - representatives of the CIS member states, the IPA CIS, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, the Standing Committee of the Union State, the CSTO PA and the CIS Executive Committee, and those who previously participated in the observation of elections and referendums in almost all countries of the Commonwealth. At the same time, as always, CIS observers will be focused on monitoring with high responsibility and due attention to all important nuances of the electoral process, the spokesperson said.

Mutual cooperation and comprehensive information exchange between election organizers and mission representatives during the election campaign were also discussed at the meeting, the spokesperson added.