Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The ruling New Azerbaijan Party, in accordance with Azerbaijan's Election Code, has introduced to the Central Election Commission (CEC) over 300 representatives who will observe the presidential elections due in the country October 9.

Furthermore, the ruling party has appointed one observer and one consultant with voting right from all 125 constituencies, the party's official website said on September 5.

The New Azerbaijan Party also appointed consultants with voting right and observers for 5,273 ballot stations and they were provided with relevant documents.

Earlier deputy chairman of New Azerbaijan Party Ali Ahmadov received head of the election observation mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Tana de Zulueta.

Ahmadov said that from the viewpoint of appraisal of the electoral process, the activity of international observation groups is of great importance.

De Zulueta, in turn, said she appreciates the Azerbaijani government's step on the observation of the election process.

The sides also discussed preparations for the elections and issues related to election campaigning.

Also, Chairman of the CEC Mazahir Panahov received an expert group of the Interparliamentary Assembly (IPA) of the Commonwealth of Independent States nations, which is on a long-term mission to monitor the presidential elections in Azerbaijan.

Panahov stressed the importance of the observer institution in terms of ensuring the transparency of elections.

Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat, Director of the International Institute of Monitoring Democracy, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage for the IPA CIS Member Nations, Dmitriy Gladey, said the group consisted of seven experts from CIS member countries.

Commenting on the pre-election process in Azerbaijan, US Ambassador Richard Morningstar told journalists on September 5 that an ambassador a diplomat shouldn't support or speak against nominated candidates.

"When going to a meeting with opposition representatives, I suppose that a diplomat can meet and talk with all candidates. At the same time, it is pivotal that he would not support or speak against one or another candidate as this should be strictly a decision of the Azerbaijani nation," Morningstar said.

The ambassador believes that every Azerbaijani citizen, by exercising his/her voting right will vote for the candidate that he/she wants to see as president.