Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan is on the eve of important election campaign, which is of great interest of international structures as well, chairman of Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan (CEC) Mazahir Panahov said during the session on "Inadmissibility of unlawful interference in election process" on August 23.

He noted that successful cooperation of Azerbaijan with international organizations, in particular with the OSCE, will play an important role in holding democratic and transparent elections.

For its part, the CEC, as a body controlling the conduct of presidential elections at high level, takes its utmost to fulfill all responsibilities, Panahov added.

According to him, there are all necessary conditions for holding democratic, fair and free elections in Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan has a stable socio-political situation, and the Head of State has a political will to hold democratic elections. I express gratitude to the Head of State for conditions he provided for conducting elections," the CEC chairman said.

Panahov went on to say that in accordance to the requirements of the Election Code of Azerbaijan, the executive authorities play exceptional role in holding elections at high level.

"That is exactly why senior officials of local executive authorities participate in today's session. The high-level organization of the elections should directly be in the focus of their attention and they are responsible for it," he stressed.

According to Panahov, Azerbaijan ranks as one of leading countries in terms of observation of the elections in polling stations by observers.

"About 10,000 observers watched the previous elections. It is expected that a significant number of people will observe the elections this time and they are not required to obtain permission from anyone to do so," Panahov added.

Panahov also noted that unfortunately biased tendencies are still observed in connection with presidential elections and assessment of their results.

"Some minor shortcomings are exaggerated and portrayed in such a light as if elections in Azerbaijan are hold entirely in an undemocratic way. Given one or two facts some people try to put the honesty of all elections under question," he underscored.

Panahov noted that observers also carry out a great responsibility in this matter.

He said that this year 20 percent of polling stations will be provided with web cameras, noting the figure was 10 percent in the previous elections.

"Elections in Azerbaijan are first of all an important campaign, conducted to satisfy the Azerbaijani people. This is the same worldwide, while there is no ideal elections in any part of the world. If anyone claims that, I believe that he doesn't tell the truth. Election is a process which involves millions of people and we try study any appeal adequately," Panahov added.

Speaking at the event, head of OSCE Baku Office Koray Targay said that the OSCE observes each election in Azerbaijan and the organization is aimed to help Azerbaijan in holding democratic elections.

According to him, OSCE assists in holding elections jointly with Azerbaijan's state bodies.

"International organizations pay significant attention to presidential elections in Azerbaijan," Targay noted.

Around 310 professional observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights will observe presidential elections in Azerbaijan, he added.

According to Targay, OSCE observers will arrive in Azerbaijan on August 26 within the presidential elections. Some 30 of them are long-term, and 180 are short-term observers.

Speaking at the event deputy chief of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration's Social and Political Affairs Department Arastun Mehdiyev said that Azerbaijan has quite a big experience in holding elections, whether it is the CEC, its structures, government bodies or bodies of executive power.

According to Mehdiyev, Azerbaijan has entered a phase of very important political processes.

"It is known that the presidential elections create conditions for decision making and expressing will and position for identifying the perspectives and directions of development in Azerbaijan in the next five years. From this point of view, the presidential election in Azerbaijan is a very important event in country's socio-economic life. Experience gained during the previous elections in Azerbaijan, professionalism of persons participating in this process, will allow holding the upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan at the required level," Mehdiyev underscored.

On the other hand, the conditions created for this in the country, the political will of Azerbaijani authorities led by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and necessary measures taken in this field make it possible to hold the next free, democratic and transparent presidential election in accordance with national law and international standards, Mehdiyev said.

The presidential elections will be held in Azerbaijan on October 9.

According to the Constitution, 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 are entitled to nominating candidates.

All candidates must submit the required documents 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 16 to October 8.