1 Introduction
1. The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly decided,
at its meeting on 23 June 2008, to set up an ad hoc Committee of
30 members to observe the presidential election in Azerbaijan (15
October 2008), subject to receipt of an invitation, and authorised
a pre-electoral mission consisting of five members, one from each political
group, who were also members of the ad hoc Committee. On 27 June
2008, the Bureau, subject to the condition mentioned above, approved
the composition of the ad hoc committee and appointed me as its Chairman.
On 8 August 2008, the Chairman of the Milli Majlis (Parliament)
of the Republic of Azerbaijan, invited the Assembly to observe the
15 October presidential election.
2. Following the proposals of the political groups, the ad hoc
committee was composed as follows (asterisks indicate those members
who also took part in the pre-electoral mission):
Group of the European People’s Party (EPP/CD)
- Mr Rony BARGETZE Liechtenstein
- M. Jean-Guy BRANGER France
- Mr Márton BRAUN Hungary
- Mrs Ingrida CIRCENE Latvia
- Mr Andres HERKEL* Estonia
- Mr Eduard LINTNER Germany
- Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS Lithuania
- Mr Piotr WACH Poland
Socialist Group (SOC)
- Mr Vidar BJØRNSTAD Norway
- Mrs Sinikka HURSKAINEN Finland
- Mrs Evguenia JIVKOVA Bulgaria
- Mr Maximiano MARTINS Portugal
- Mr Ivan POPESCU Ukraine
- Mr Indrek SAAR* Estonia
- Lord TOMLINSON United Kingdom
- Mrs Gisela WURM Austria
European Democrat Group (EDG)
- Mr Mevlüt ÇAVUŞOĞLU*
Turkey
- Mr Igor CHERNYSHENKO Russian Federation
- Mr Robert WALTER United Kingdom
- Mr Yury ZELENSKIY Russian Federation
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
- Mr Michael HANCOCK United
Kingdom
- Mme Nursuna MEMECAN Turkey
- Mrs Kriistina OJULAND Estonia
- Mr Paul WILLE Belgium
Group of the Unified European Left (UEL)
3. Following the co-operation agreement between the
Parliamentary Assembly and the European Commission for Democracy
through Law (Venice Commission), the latter was invited to join
this election observation mission. It was represented by Mr Owen
Masters (United Kingdom) assisted by Mr Serguei Kouznetsov (Secretariat).
4. Mr Dronov, Mr de Buyer, Ms Jamal, Ms Gastl and Ms Bargellini
provided secretarial support to the ad hoc committee. Mr Dronov
and Ms Morel provided support for the pre-electoral mission.
5. The pre-electoral mission visited Baku from 16 to 18 September
2008. It met with members of Azerbaijan’s delegation to the Parliamentary
Assembly, the Chairman of the Milli Majlis, the presidential candidates,
including the incumbent President, Mr Aliev. It also met with the
Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC), the Ministers
of the Interior and Justice, the Chairman of the Constitutional
Court, members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Baku, as well
as a cross-section of representatives of civil society and the media.
In addition, the mission met with the leaders of the five political
parties that opted out of the election race.
6. In its statement issued at the end of the visit (Appendix
1), the pre-electoral mission noted legislative improvements conducive
to a good election, not least those based on the recommendations
of the Venice Commission. It acknowledged, however, that some key
issues, such as equitable representation in electoral commissions
or fairness in conducting the campaign were more a matter of electoral
practice than the letter of the law. The mission was concerned about
a presumed lack of public interest in the campaign and regretted the
decision by the five opposition parties not to run.
7. The ad hoc committee conducted its observation mission from
13 to 15 October 2008 (see Appendix 2 for the programme of the visit).
On election day, the committee was split into 16 teams and observed
elections in and around Baku (three teams), Surakhani, Sumgait,
Yasamal, Divichi, Ali Bairamly, Hadjiqabul, Salyan, Siyazan, Khatai,
Sabail, Sabirabad, Quobustan, Ganja, Yevlakh and Kyurdamir.
8. The ad hoc committee acted as part of an International Election
Observation Mission (IEOM) that also included a delegation from
the European Parliament (EP) and the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission. Relations
with our partners from the EP delegation were cordial. We did however
experience frictions in our interplay with ODIHR. A Joint Statement
was presented by the Heads of the three delegations constituting
the IEOM at a press conference held on 16 October at 5.30 p.m. (Appendix
3).
2 Political background, legal framework, candidate
registration, election administration and election campaign
9. Following the 2005 parliamentary elections, relations
between the authorities and the opposition have remained tense,
with almost no dialogue between the two sides. Five opposition parties
decided not to participate in the electoral race, citing obstacles
to equal opportunities. However, many of our observers believed
that the true reason for this was that the five parties were aware
that they stood no chance in winning the race and therefore opted
out as a face saving manoeuvre ahead of the next parliamentary elections,
where they could still hope to make it to the Parliament.
10. On 30 July 2008, the CEC called the presidential election
for 15 October, in accordance with the relevant constitutional provisions.
The President is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and
may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The President is
elected by the absolute majority of votes cast. If no candidate receives
more than half of the votes cast, a second round is held. This election
was the third presidential election under the current Constitution,
adopted in 1995. The incumbent President was first elected in 2003, with
77 percent of the votes.
11. Presidential elections in Azerbaijan are primarily regulated
by the Constitution of the country and the Election Code. The Code
was last amended in June 2008. Some of the changes addressed earlier recommendations
of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR and included an explicit
prohibition of unlawful interference by State officials and local
executive authorities in the election process, and the inking of fingers.
12. Regrettably, the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR recommendation
to revise the formula for the composition of election commissions
so that they are not dominated by pro-government forces, was not taken
up. Furthermore, recommendations concerning candidate registration,
voting by the military, complaints and appeals procedures and invalidation
of the results were not addressed or not fully addressed.
13. The Election Code still contains some inconsistencies and
ambiguities. Some other relevant pieces of legislation, such as
the Civil Procedure Code, should have been amended to avoid discrepancies,
for example, on the role of district courts in the election-related
complaints and appeals process.
14. The new Law on the Freedom of Assembly represents a significant
improvement. However, its implementation was not always in consonance
with its letter: in at least one instance it was interpreted and implemented
in a restrictive manner by the Baku City Authorities. While the
Law states that relevant executive bodies shall provide special
venues to conduct rallies and that the list of ‘proposed sites’
from which the organisers can choose should be published, the Baku
executive authorities considered the list as being exhaustive and
denied the request by the opposition parties to hold rallies in
places not on the list.
15. Ten of the twenty one prospective candidates whose nominations
were approved by the CEC submitted the required documents and support
signature sheets within the legal time frame. Prospective candidates
had to collect 40 000 signatures of registered voters from at least
60 constituencies. The recent amendments to the Electoral Code reduced
the number of requisite signatures from 45 000 to 40.000, but also
eliminated the possibility for prospective candidates to submit
a financial deposit instead of the signatures.
16. The CEC registered seven presidential candidates: the incumbent
President Mr Ilham Aliev (YAP), Mr Igbal Agazadeh (Umid Party),
Mr Hafiz Hajiyev (Modern Musavat Party), Mr Gudrat Hasanguliev (Azerbaijan United
Popular Front Party), Mr Fazil Mustafayev (Great Establishment Party),
Mr Fuad Aliev (Liberal-democratic Party) and Mr Gulamhuseyn Alibayli
(self-nominated).
17. The registration of two prospective candidates was rejected
due to a large number of invalid supporting signatures. Another
prospective candidate produced empty signature sheets.
18. This election was administered by a three-tiered election
administration consisting of the CEC, 125 Constituency Election
Commissions (ConECs) and 5 326 Precinct Election Commissions (PECs).
In addition, 33 polling stations for out-of-country voting were
established in Azerbaijani diplomatic and consular missions in 27
countries.
19. Election commissions are appointed under a formula whereby
nominees represent the parliamentary majority, parliamentary minority
and parliamentarians elected as independent candidates, each group accounting
for one third of the commission’s membership.
20. The CEC was very active in the elaboration of rules and regulations
and launched a comprehensive voter education programme and an intensive
training programme for election administrators. Preparations for the
election went smoothly and within the legal deadlines.
21. Voter lists were made available to the public within the legal
deadlines. In an effort to enhance transparency, the CEC published
voter lists on its web site and enabled voters to check their accuracy
online. A telephone hotline for voter registration information was
established. No serious problems or inaccuracies in voter lists
were reported.
22. The election campaign was generally low-key, leading some
to conclude that there was a general lack of public interest in
the vote. However, the voter turnout on the election day was high.
The decision of some opposition parties not to put forward their
candidates further limited the pre-election suspense. The incumbent candidate
opted to abstain from active campaigning in person on the grounds
that he wished to give other candidates more opportunities. As a
result, the incumbent had little interactive dialogue with voters
and no direct debate on policy issues with other candidates.
23. On 6 August, in a welcome development, the incumbent ordered
that official portraits and billboards featuring him be removed
throughout Azerbaijan, underscoring the need for equal campaign
conditions to all candidates. However, billboards depicting the
late President Heydar Aliev, sometimes together with the incumbent,
remained in place in numerous locations.
24. Overall, all candidates were able to convey their respective
messages to the voters without impediments, and their requests to
organise rallies were generally accommodated.
25. At the same time, the OSCE/ODIHR mission part of the IEOM
reported that it received some corroborated complaints that, in
some cases people were made to attend YAP rallies. In two instances,
people were also obliged to attend another candidate’s rally. University
students and uniformed schoolchildren with their teachers were reported
to have been seen attending YAP rallies.
3 Media environment
26. Despite a proliferation of media outlets in Azerbaijan,
the issue of media independence and freedom in that country remains
problematic.
27. A significant number of journalists who had criticised the
authorities were the subject of criminal persecution and civil lawsuits,
that, in some cases, resulted in prison sentences and fines. In
December 2007, the President pardoned five journalists, but three
most prominent opposition journalists, Eynulla Fatullayev, Ganimat
Zahidov and Sakit Zahidov (Mirza Sakit) are still in jail.
28. The free airtime for candidates, as provided for in the Election
Code, was allocated in the form of regular debates on Public TV
and radio. The incumbent President chose not to participate in these
debates in person and sent proxies to represent him instead. In
addition, candidates could convey their message to the electorate through
paid political advertising and in print media.
29. In the four weeks preceding the election, Public TV devoted
51 percent of its political and election-related coverage to the
President (16 percent), the Government (22 percent), the YAP (10
percent) and the Presidential Administration (3 percent). This coverage
was either positive or neutral. By contrast, all other political
parties received a total coverage of only 12 percent.At the same time, public TV was
the only channel to make an attempt to have more balanced coverage
for candidates and political forces.
4 Election day
30. Election day was generally calm and peaceful, with
high voter turnout.
31. However, according to local non-party observers, this election
once again witnessed an abuse of administrative resources notably,
in coercing people, in particular students and state employees to
vote and thus to ensure a higher turnout. These allegations could
neither be disproved not confirmed by the ad hoc committee.
32. The ad hoc committee split into 16 teams. Each team visited
between 10 and 15 polling stations, observing the opening of polling
stations, the voting and the vote count. The overall impression
of the organisation and conduct of the voting was positive. Overall,
IEOM observers assessed positively opening procedures in 88 percent
of polling stations visited. Voting was assessed positively by IEOM
observers in 94 percent of polling stations visited. The count and
tabulation were assessed less positively, however Assembly observers
did not generally witness serious irregularities.
33. Credit should be given to the election administration, which
ensured the efficient and professional conduct of the voting process
and the vote count.
5 Results of the elections
34. On 22 October 2008, the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan
ratified the election results and thus officially declared the incumbent
President, Mr Ilham Aliev, as the winner in this election. He won
the Presidency with 88,73 percent of the votes cast, with a voter
turnout of 75,64 percent.
35. Mr Igbal Agazadeh obtained 2,86 percent, Mr Fazil Mustafayev
obtained 2,47 percent, Mr Gudrat Hasanguliev obtained 2,28 percent,
Mr Gulamhuseyn Alibayli obtained 2,23 per cent, Mr Fuad Aliyev obtained 0,78
percent and Mr Hafiz Hajiyev obtained 0,65 percent of the votes
cast.
36. According to the CEC, no complaints were received after the
voting day.
6 Conclusions and recommendations
37. The ad hoc committee concluded that the results of
the presidential election held on 15 October 2008 in the Republic
of Azerbaijan were the reflection of the will of that country’s
electorate.
38. In the presidential election, the people of Azerbaijan voted
for the stability and continuity associated with the incumbent President.
The re-elected President will have a solid mandate given to him
by the majority of Azerbaijanis.
39. The ad hoc committee regretted the decision by five political
parties not to participate in the election and called for the beginning
of a meaningful dialogue between the authorities and the opposition,
which bears its share of responsibility for what was regarded by
some as an election with no real choice.
40. The ad hoc committee concluded that the voting was well administered,
and that the relevant legislation had been improved. It called on
the Azerbaijani authorities to continue co-operation with the Council
of Europe in further improving its electoral legislation and practice.
41. In the future, in particular, in the context of the next parliamentary
elections, Azerbaijan could score higher if the present level of
election administration were to be matched by a real competition
of political platform and ideas.
