04/11/2010 Election observation
Strasbourg, 04.11.2010 – A 30-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Paul Wille (Belgium, ALDE), will be in Azerbaijan from 5 to 8 November to observe the holding of the parliamentary elections, alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
The delegation will meet representatives of the authorities and of various political parties, the Chair of the Central Election Commission, domestic observer organisations, as well as civil society and media representatives before observing the ballot on 7 November.
A PACE pre-electoral delegation, visiting Baku from 18 to 21 October, welcomed “an overall calm atmosphere in the run-up to the elections”, and “improvements in the work of the Central Election Commission, the voter education programme launched by it, and greater attention to the quality of the voters’ lists”. In addition, the pre-electoral delegation noted that the Azerbaijani opposition was actively involved in the electoral race. Yet, it regretted the lack of any public debate and harassment of some journalists and bloggers, and was concerned about “allegations that the pre-electoral situation was characterised by administrative pressures and difficulties relating to candidate registration”.
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Preliminary conclusions will be announced at a joint press conference on Monday 8 November at the Hotel Hyatt Regency in Baku (time to be specified).
Contacts:
Vladimir Dronov, Interparliamentary Co-operation and Election Observation Department, mobile: +33 (0)6 63 49 37 92
Council of Europe Office in Baku: tel. +994 12 497 31 56