Azerbaijan preparing for municipal elections
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Azerbaijan is going to hold municipal elections on December 23, 2014. The elections will cover 1,607 municipalities throughout the country.
The members of the Central Election Commission have unanimously adopted a proposal on the elections during the commission's meeting on October 21.
CEC Head Mazahir Panahov said the last municipal elections were held on December 23 in 2009 and the mandate of the municipality members will expire this year.
The Commission confirmed that the ballots will be prepared by December 13 and the outcome of the municipal elections will be announced by January 17. The agitation campaigns will begin 23 days before the elections.
The CEC members have also approved the "Scheduled plan of the main events on the preparation and conduction of the municipal elections in Azerbaijan."
Municipal elections in Azerbaijan are held every 5 year. Constitution empowers the municipalities to carry out basic services including sanitation.
Panahov noted the election commissions and appropriate bodies must be ready face possible challenges. He said there have to be bus services in the regions and villages to carry the voters to the polling stations since the elections are going to be held in winter. "Election commissions should be ready for the possible problems due to bad conditions on the roads that may hamper the voters to reach the polling stations," he said.
The CEC also decided to create a group of experts and working groups for the upcoming municipal elections. The expert group of nine members will investigate the citizens' reports about the possible violations of voter rights. An expert group of three members will also be created at each of the election commissions in the districts. Meanwhile, the working groups will be responsible to check the information about the voters and candidates.
Taking into consideration the importance of the upcoming municipal elections in Azerbaijan, the government has identified 2,800 open and closed sites for free gatherings.
Presidential Administration official Huseyn Movsumov said all necessary conditions were created to hold municipal elections in Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, all material-technical problems at 1,607 municipalities have been removed.
The ruling New Azerbaijan Party has already prepared a list of its candidates and plenipotentiary representatives at the municipal elections. Party's Deputy Secretary Siyavush Novruzov said the ruling party is seriously preparing for the forthcoming elections.