PACE mission praises Azerbaijan’s commitment to open elections

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

A pre-electoral delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has welcomed the openness of the Azerbaijani authorities and the invitation being extended to a large number of international organizations to observe the November 1 parliamentary elections.

This was noted in a statement of the PACE delegation which visited Baku on September 21- 22 to assess the pre-election process and the preparations for the parliamentary elections.

"The PACE pre-electoral mission nevertheless insists on fully carrying out – even increasing – the PACE observation mission as scheduled, as observation of elections in a PACE member State under monitoring is an essential, even statutory, part of the PACE monitoring procedure," the report said. "Moreover, the final report of the PACE electoral mission is a necessary tool for the Assembly, both as a basis for political debate on the conduct of the elections, and for maintaining institutional dialogue with the parliament of this state."

PACE also expressed satisfaction with the fact that a large number of independent interlocutors stressed that progress has been made since the last parliamentary election five years ago.

The delegation has held meetings with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, the Foreign Minister, members of Azerbaijan’s delegation to PACE, the leaders and representatives of parliamentary groups and parties represented in the Parliament, the leaders and representatives of opposition parties not represented in the Parliament, the Chairman of the CEC, representatives of the diplomatic corps in Baku, and representatives of civil society and the media.

The pre-electoral mission delegation was informed by Azerbaijan's Central Electoral Commission about the different stages of the preparation of the parliamentary elections. According to the CEC, no complaints have been submitted to it so far.

The PACE pre-electoral mission also welcomed the fact that some major opposition parties have decided to co-operate within a political alliance to enhance their chances of being elected.

"During a round-table meeting with a large number of NGOs, human rights defenders and civil society activists, interlocutors unanimously called for this election observation mission by PACE to go ahead," PACE noted. "The PACE delegation was assured by representatives of the Azerbaijani authorities that all necessary measures will be undertaken to guarantee the transparency of the electoral process, including during the voting and counting procedure."

Preparations are in full swing for this upcoming significant event in the political life of the country.

The number of persons, which have applied to the CEC to register as candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections, has exceeded 1,000.

Campaigning for the November 1 parliamentary elections will start on October 9 and will end on October 31 at 8:00 a.m., exactly 23 days before voting as required by law. Campaign leaflets will be placed at polling stations until October 2.

The submission of all election documents necessary for the registration of candidates to district election commissions kicked off on September 12 and will last until 18:00 October 2.

According to the schedule, election documents can be submitted by the candidate and his/her authorized representative, or the authorized representative of the political party/bloc of the candidate.

The verification of the authenticity of documentation and decisions regarding candidate eligibility will be made within seven days after receiving the documents at the district election commissions.

Registration for election monitoring should be submitted to the CEC by October 22.