Azernews.Az

Holding democratic elections with Azerbaijan’s current legislation is possible, the Council of Europe Venice Commission’s chairman Gianni Buquicchio told the press. Speaking to a press conference on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Venice Commission, Buquicchio said the situation in Azerbaijan is improving with each election.
"Of course, in any country, including mine, the situation is not perfect. In Azerbaijan, the situation is improving from election to election. I am ready to continue effective cooperation with Azerbaijan in this regard.
"Azerbaijan’s electoral legislation has improved significantly. At the same time, we should continue working on its further improvement. There is work to do, and we can do it together," Buquicchio said.
He pointed to the need to improve the Electoral Code by making positive changes on the formation of electoral commissions.
"Nonetheless, the existing legislation allows holding good elections. The most important is the desire to apply European standards and regulations.
"Even with imperfect laws, it is possible to hold democratic elections. We should continue to cooperate with the Azerbaijani authorities on the Electoral Code. We should make sure that the elections are declared by international observers to be satisfactory. We shall proceed to conduct training for people involved in the electoral process in Azerbaijan," said the commission chairman.
Azerbaijan will hold parliamentary elections this November. The voting will be held in 125 constituencies based on the majority-of-votes system.*