U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan Spokesman: “The statement that 90% of that assistance bypassed Azerbaijan civil society and went to the Government of Azerbaijan is simply inaccurate”

Dear Editors

On behalf of the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan and Ambassador Anne E. Derse, I am responding to the article posted September 25, 2008, that quoted Zardusht Alizade as saying that 90% of embassy election support goes to the government, rather than civil society.

Last spring the USG announced that it was providing $3.5 million to support efforts to hold free and transparent democratic elections in Azerbaijan. The statement by Zardusht Alizade that 90% of that assistance bypassed Azerbaijan civil society and went to the Government of Azerbaijan is simply inaccurate.

The USG is providing over 70% of its election assistance funding to non-governmental efforts to support free and transparent democratic elections in Azerbaijan, through working with a variety of Azeri NGOs and citizens in support of domestic monitoring efforts, handling election disputes, voter education campaigns, and encouraging youth participation in the election process.

Less than 30% of the USG election assistance funding is used in support of helping the Central Election Commission build its organizational and professional capacity to fairly and transparently administer the Presidential Elections, a prudent and reasonable approach given the importance the CEC has in the election process. As is the case with all USG assistance, the U.S. Embassy is always happy to discuss our assistance programs with the public.   

Respectfully,

Terry Davidson,
Embassy Spokesman

Related article:

Zardusht Alizade: "90% of US-allocated funds for conduction of fair and transparent elections in Azerbaijan went to our government, while civil society got only 10% of these funds"