International observers from the CIS and OSCE on 28 February offered differing assessments of 27 February parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, agencies reported. Asan Kozhakov, head of the CIS observer mission, noted some irregularities but deemed the elections \"transparent, open, and legitimate.\" But Kimmo Kiljunen, who headed the OSCE observer mission, told a news conference in Bishkek on 28 February that the elections, \"while more competitive than previous elections, fell short of OSCE commitments and other international standards in a number of important areas,\" RFE/RL\'s Kyrgyz Service reported. Kiljunen cited such flaws as the \"deregistration of candidates, interfering with independent media, vote buying, and a low level of confidence in electoral and judicial institutions on the part of candidates and voters.\" The CIS observer mission included 218 monitors from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; the OSCE observer mission also consisted of roughly 200 long-term and short-term observers. (RFE/RL)