Venice Commission on democratic elections in Azerbaijan

It is possible to hold democratic elections under the current legislation of Azerbaijan, Venice Commission chairman Gianni Buquicchio said to press conference on the 20 anniversary of the establishment of the Venice Commission, expressing his attitude towards the Electoral Code of Azerbaijan.

Buquicchio, who noted the commitment to partnership with the government of Azerbaijan, said that the situation in Azerbaijan is improving from election to election.  

"Of course, in any country, including in mine, the situation is not perfect. In Azerbaijan, the situation is improving from election to election. I am ready to continue effective cooperation with Azerbaijan in this regard. The electoral legislation of Azerbaijan has improved significantly. At the same time we must continue to work on its further improvement. Work still must be done in this regard, we can carry it out together. There is a need to improve the Electoral Code, making it a positive change on formation of electoral commissions. In addition, the existing legislation allows holding good elections. The most important is the desire to apply European standards and regulations," said Buquicchio.

Even with imperfect legislation, it is possible to hold democratic elections, said the chairman of the Venice Commission.

"Even with an imperfect law, it is possible to hold democratic elections. We must continue to cooperate with the Azerbaijani authorities in the Electoral Code. We should make sure that the elections are declared by international observers to be satisfactory. We shall proceed to conduct training for people involved in the electoral process in Azerbaijan," said the commission chairman.


/Trend/