Azernews.Az

BAKU – Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were held in "a peaceful atmosphere" and with the participation of all opposition parties, but their conduct "overall was not sufficient to constitute meaningful progress" in the country’s democratic development, international observers said.

In a statement issued on Monday, European observers noted that voting on election day was assessed positively in almost 90 percent of the polling stations visited, while serious problems were noted in 10 percent. They added: "Counting deteriorated, with almost a third of polling stations observed rated bad or very bad, with worrying problems like ballot box stuffing noted in a number of places."

The monitors, led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said the Central Election Commission (CEC) overall administered the technical aspects of the electoral process well. But limitations of media freedom and freedom of assembly, and a deficient candidate registration process, further weakened the opposition and made vibrant political discourse almost impossible, the observers claimed. "This and a restricted competitive environment created an uneven playing field for candidates, making it difficult for voters to make an informed choice."

On the positive side, voters had the opportunity to check the centralized voter register and request correction or inclusion, and the CEC conducted a voter education campaign, including in the media.

"It is never easy to do justice to a country which is developing its democratic institutions, especially in a difficult environment. We have seen the many efforts made to make progress and the areas in which the country does very well, and we welcome them as much as the hospitality demonstrated by all our interlocutors. However, despite all the efforts made, the country needs to do much more to make progress in developing a truly pluralist democracy," said Wolfgang Grossruck, who led the short-term OSCE observer mission and headed the delegation of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Paul Wille, head of the delegation of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), said that "in a welcome departure from the past", the run-up to the elections and election day were peaceful and not marred by violent incidents, all opposition parties opted to participate in the political process, sometimes running as part of electoral blocs, rather than to boycott it, as was the case in the past. "A positive environment was created by good co-operation between the authorities, international institutions and the domestic actors."

Wille noted that Azerbaijan’s parliamentary elections will be discussed in detail at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) session due in January.

Anneli Jaatteenmaki, head of the delegation of the European Parliament, said that the economic development seen in Azerbaijan in past years should also be achieved in democratic development.

"Economic growth and stability are evident in Azerbaijan. Sustainability of this situation can only be reinforced by greater political liberalization and democratization of the country. Independent observers have reported vote count irregularities, harassment of opposition observers and ballot box stuffing. Azerbaijan has to make further efforts to ensure greater democratization."

Head of the OSCE/ODIHR long-term election observation mission, Audrey Glover, said the vote was conducted technically well for the most part, but this does not hold true for the polling itself.

"Regrettably, our observation of the overall process shows that the conditions necessary for a meaningful democratic election were not established. We are particularly concerned about restrictions of fundamental freedoms, media bias, the dominance of public life by one party, and serious violations on election day," said Glover.

Glover said the violations reported during the elections will be studied and the outcomes of this analysis reflected in the final report of the election observation mission to be issued in two months.

Sunday’s elections were observed by 316 monitors from OSCE ODIHR, 58 members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and 33 observers from PACE.