Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan has invited international organizations to observe the upcoming presidential elections which will be held in the country on October 9, the Foreign Affairs Ministry reported August 15.

Earlier the OSCE PA reported that it will not send its observers to the upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan.

The decision was made by President of OSCE PA Ranko Krivokapic because the date for the elections in Azerbaijan coincides with the Assembly's Fall Meetings, due on October 13-15 in Budva, Montenegro.

According to Krivokapic, the OSCE PA pursues a long-standing policy focusing on the observation of parliamentary elections and monitors presidential polls only in exceptional cases.

According to the AzerbaijaniConstitution, the president of Azerbaijan is elected for a five-year term through general, direct and equal elections, by free, private and secret voting.

Azerbaijani citizens who have the right of election, an initiative group of electors, political parties and blocs of political parties have the right to nominate candidates.

The documents of the candidates are to be submitted to the CEC from August 20 to September 9.

A candidate who gets a signature list should return it within a week and after that the CEC will solve the issue regarding his/her official registration.

The official election campaign will begin 23 days before the election. It will take place from September 19 to October 8.

Free airtime and space for publications will be allocated for registered presidential candidates as part of the pre-election campaign. Free air time will be allocated to the candidates on Public Television and Radio Broadcasting company, while space for publications will be provided in Azerbaijan, Khalq Gazeti, Respublika and Bakinskiy Rabochiy newspapers.

If other broadcasters and periodicals decide to allocate paid air time and space for publication within the pre-election campaign, they are required to notify the CEC. Information about the conditions and payment is to be published no later than 35 days after the official announcement of the decision to schedule the elections.