Azerbaijani top official: U.S. Department of State's statement on elections causes surprise and regret

The U.S. Department of State's statement on the parliamentary elections is surprising and regrettable, Azerbaijani Presidential Administration's Social and Political Department Head Ali Hasanov said. He said the statement contains a subjective assessment of the electoral process in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan held democratic, fair and transparent parliamentary elections. All international organizations, including OSCE, Council of Europe, CIS, and other international institutions, praised the elections in their statements and named them a fair and transparent on 90% of polling stations, Hasanov said. According to their estimations, there were minor violations in the remaining 10%, he added.

Azerbaijan held the parliamentary elections Nov. 7. The voter turnout hit about 50.14% (roughly 2.48 million voters) in Azerbaijan, the Central Election Commission (CEC) Elections Information Center reported.

The CEC reported that 690 candidates are running for the parliamentary elections. Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are held by the majority system in 125 constituencies. Previous parliamentary elections were held in November 2005.


/Trend/