Azernews.Az

BAKU – The leader of Azerbaijan’s opposition Musavat party said it had received information about violations of law during parliamentary elections held Sunday.

Isa Gambar expressed disappointment with the alleged violations after casting his ballot in a Baku polling station.

Ali Karimli, chairman of opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, told the press that the APFP-Musavat bloc was closely following the conduct of the elections and would comprehensively study the violations committed.

APFP-Musavat claimed in statements issued throughout election day that campaigning in favor of the ruling party’s candidates was observed in polling stations and voters faced pressure. It alleged that unregistered people were allowed to vote in election constituencies, ballot stuffing was taking place, observers were being harassed and beaten and some electoral commission members and observers who protested at alleged fraud were taken to police precincts.

The governing Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party (YAP) has accused opposition representatives of attempting to convince observers of a poor conduct of the elections. YAP said in its statements on election day that authorized representatives, observers and in many cases candidates of opposition parties, particularly APFP-Musavat, were trying to impede the work of electoral commissions in the presence of international monitors, and availed of specially trained persons to commit major irregularities that would be further blamed on the authorities.

YAP’s press service said that the hard-line opposition’s primary goal was to discredit the elections, form a negative opinion about the elections among observers and create an environment of low confidence in the electoral process.

1,024 international observers representing 20 international organizations and diplomatic missions followed Sunday’s polling, along with over 48,000 local monitors.

Parliament members were elected for a five-year term under the majority of votes. 690 candidates contested 125 seats in the Milli Majlis.