Sergey Kuznetsov: “Venice commission to take final decision on situation in Azerbaijan in October”

Kuznetsov noted, that the commission’s preliminary conclusion on the issue had been made public as far as in the current June, however for taking a final decision the VC experts must analyze comprehensively  the Meilli Mejlis decision on amendments in the country’s Election Code. According to the VC official, the text of the decision will be put to the disposal of the Azerbaijani authorities prior to making a final decision at the Commission.

Kuznetsov focused the attention also to the fact that the draft Election Code, passed by the Milli Mejlis has not been officially submitted to the Venice Commission for consideration so far. «Nevertheless, the CE Parliamentary Assembly is informed of the adopted decision of the Azerbaijani Parliament”, he said.  

Kuznetsov has also noted, that “the Venice Commission possesses no information on the introducing any new changes to the Azerbaijan’s Election Code, as the Milli Mejlis summer session has already completed its work”. Sergey Kuznetsov has underlined once more, that the Venice Commission does not make any decisions on sanctions in regard of any state, being only the legal cooperation body.

«All decisions may be taken by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) only”, the VC official noted, having reminded that in texts of resolutions on Azerbaijan, adopted during the PACE summer session, it has been clearly marked, that in case the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are not in line with the Council of Europe standards, the PACE may consider the issue of non-extension of the Azerbaijani delegation mandate.