Mazahir Panakhov: "Changes in the attitude of voters towards elections have become a specific feature of 2008 elections"

- The Central Election Commission and the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan have made statements, fixing the biassed EU assessment of the presidential elections held on October 15 when most other foreign observers were in fact satisfied with the observation of the electoral process. What is the reason of such?

- The reasons should be learned from the EU representatives. In our statement we noted that EU's position is unclear as their representatives were here, they observed the elections and their opinion was quite different from what is fixed in this statement. Frankly speaking, I do not know how to call this document, the EU document or something else. The grounds which caused such a statement are doubtful to me as most European countries state officially that they have no idea of this document.

You have witnessed that EU official representatives had a different opinion while being in Azerbaijan. Further, respected Began, Solana and other influential representatives of the European union stated that the elections were held on the normal level and deserve high assessment. They were also bewildered about the said statement.

I think a certain misunderstanding occurred here and if you paid attention on the next day Mr.Sarkozy especially congratulated the President of Azerbaijan, therefore... You know, perhaps, this is typical of Europeans, especially of French.

- Were you satisfied with the overall assessment of the elections by international observers?

- On the whole, the assessment was positive. All stressed good organization of the electoral process and mentioned the calm conduction of talks. It was especially noted that all conditions were created for holding the elections at the highest level.

People engaged in the elections know what it means, because normal elections require due conditions, as well as the sociopolitical stability for the citizens to be able to execute their constitutional right. I consider that both factors were ensured on the level, which is considered exemplery for other countries. It is especially important and was recognized by everyone.

The participation of 75.12% of voters was highly appreciated and it is a pride that this time none of the international organizations have put forward any claims, though you remember that initially we were accused of the artificial increase of the indicators of voters' participation. At the same time, the observers recognized that the voters indeed demonstrated extreme activeness. This is a serious issue and I consider that such a high participation of voters has become a significant factor of these elections, as it is the best proof of the attitude of Azerbaijani voters to elections.

- At the same time, the observers from the OSCE, Council of Europe and European Union noted that along with the progress, the elections also fixed some shortcomings which were not listed though. What do you think about it?

- There are no ideal elections, therefore, while speaking to the representatives of these organizations I ask them to list the shortcomings and where they were fixed. Unfortunately, some explain their actions by the peculiarity of expressing opinion on results.

But I think that the observation of elections must be held in line with the law and transparently. Under our electoral code, if some violations are recorded, they should be declared right away. On the whole the transparency of elections is based on the transparency of their monitoring. The observation process must be transparent and this is a key requirement.

/Day.Az/