Russian senator: PACE set itself goal of becoming closed club

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev commented on the suspension of the Azerbaijani delegation in PACE, comparing PACE with a closed club "where temporary friends of interest vote for each other, like Eurovision," Azernews reports.

The senator noted that at the organisation's winter session taking place these days, the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation were challenged on so-called substantive grounds.

"On the eve of the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, scheduled for February 7, the delegation is deprived of its powers. It is quite logical that Azerbaijani parliamentarians regarded this as an attempt to interfere in the electoral process and left the Assembly in its entirety.

I understand the motivation and share the emotions. The punitive decision was nevertheless adopted - by about 70 votes of those present out of more than 300 who had the right to vote but did not come to the session. Questionable democracy, to put it mildly. "If PACE has set itself the goal of turning into a closed club where temporary friends of interest vote for each other, like Eurovision, then there is no question," Kosachev wrote in a social network.

The deputy stressed that if PACE claims to be a constructive parliamentary platform with the possibility of dialogue on equal footing, then the methods and tactics are failing more than ever.