15/05/2008 Monitoring
Strasbourg, 15.05.2008 - Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) and Evguenia Jivkova (Bulgaria, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of the honouring of obligations and commitments by Azerbaijan, will be undertaking a fact-finding visit to Baku from 18 to 20 May to assist the authorities in preparing the Presidential election of 15 October 2008 in line with the Council of Europe’s standards.
The visit will enable Mr Herkel and Ms Jivkova to finalise their report on the functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan, due to be discussed by the Assembly during the PACE session on 27 June.
Talks are planned with Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic, Ogtay Asadov, Speaker of Parliament, Fikrat Mammadov, Minister of Justice, Eldar Mahmudov, Minister for National Security, and Mazahir Panahov, Chair of the Central Electoral Commission. The co-rapporteurs will be meeting representatives of the governing party, opposition parties, the media and civil society. They will also visit imprisoned journalists Eynulla Fattulayev, Mirza Sakit and Ganimat Zahidov in their places of detention.