International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) releases a preliminary statement on Elections

The IEOM involved the observers of European Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, OSCE/ODIHR and NATO Parliamentary Assembly. The IEOM stated that the observers informed the process was tense in 14 percent of polling stations. Observers witnessed some negative cases concerning mistakes in counting, problems with application of finger-inking; some voters could not find their names in the voter’s list.

The mission deployed 665 observers from 42 countries to observe the elections, visiting more than half of all polling stations in the country. "The shortcomings that were observed, particularly during Election Day, have led us to conclude that the elections did not meet Azerbaijan's international commitments on elections" - said Alcee L. Hastings, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Special Co-coordinator for the short-term observers.

A.Hastings reminded the improvements in campaign period. "We are concerned about the composition of the election commissions, they need balancing and involving representatives of all political parties".

The head of the delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Leo Platvoet stated that the election campaign was very normal, free airtime was allocated to the candidates on state-funded media, providing conditions for the opposition hold numerous rallies. L.Platvoet denounced the use of force to the rally participants by the police in the pre-election situation. He assessed the ballot counting as bad or very bad in 43 per cent of counts observed. He called on the Azerbaijani officials to continue cooperation with the Council of Europe and improve the election legislation:"The government demonstrated its respect to the democracy and should sanction the rallies of the opposition".

Marie Anne Isler Beguin, Head of the European Parliament delegation stated that the European Parliament observed the elections in Azerbaijan for the first time and said they assess the elections positively. She reminded that the mission is short-term. Adding that they were informed about the interference of the election commissions and other shortcomings .M. Isler Beguin said of the voting to be calm and assessed the elections positively for 87%. She mentioned some shortcomings in the counting and called on the Central Election Commission to take urgent measures.

Head of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly delegation Michael Clapham added they observed intimidation against the local observers and that they have been refused to give protocols. Ambassador Geert-Hinrich Ahrens, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR's long-term observation mission, concluded that President Ilham Aliyev’s two decrees on improving election practices aroused great hopes. He said of the final report to be released approximately six weeks after the completion of the electoral process.

APA