Ambassador: Azerbaijan left behind important chapter in strengthening democracy
By Sara Rajabova
With the completion of the October 9 presidential elections, Azerbaijan left behind another important chapter in strengthening its nascent democracy, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the United Kingdom Fakhraddin Gurbanov said in his article published on the Aljazeera English website on October 30.
Gurbanov said in his article entitled "Azerbaijan deserves international community's support" that the elections were mainly assessed as free, fair and transparent by most international and local observers.
He said the democratic traditions are not alien to Azerbaijan and yet in 1918, amid a challenging geo-strategic situation the people of Azerbaijan established the first democratic government in the Muslim world.
"It is on this foundation that the Republic of Azerbaijan has progressed since regaining independence in 1991, and we take great inspiration and encouragement from what our ancestors had achieved during difficult times a hundred years ago," Gurbanov wrote.
He also said Azerbaijan is a young democratic country and noted its commitment to the establishment of a strong civil society.
Gurbanov further cited the achievements attained as a result of the political course implemented by the Azerbaijani government in past years.
The ambassador wrote that poverty has been reduced dramatically and an open and prolific business environment established in the country.
Gurbanov outlined the steps on turning the country's oil capital into human capital, as well as implementation of a special governmental scholarship program which funds the education of talented Azerbaijani youth in prestigious universities around the world.
According to Gurbanov, in order to increase the transparency, the so-called Easy Service Centers have been set up across the country and as a result, the delivery of various services was facilitated and the application of innovations in e-governance was improved.
Gurbanov noted with regret that the critics of Azerbaijan's government in international media outlets do not pay attention to these significant changes that bring tangible benefits to the lives of millions of Azerbaijanis.
Gurbanov also said that Azerbaijan is a responsible member of the international community and two years ago the country gained a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council with great support of the world community.
The ambassador reminded that over two years Azerbaijan has contributed to international peace and security and has recently set up a special state-run agency, Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA), which deals with humanitarian aid projects for people in need across the globe.
Referring again to the presidential elections, Gurbanov said that what matters in democracies is the respect for the will of the people -- and that is exactly what happened in Azerbaijan on October 9. He also stressed the Azerbaijani government's commitment to democratic development.
The October 9 presidential election in Azerbaijan ended with an overwhelming victory of President Ilham Aliyev, who was re-elected after being nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party.
According to the election tallies drawn up after processing the ballot papers from all polling stations, Ilham Aliyev got 3,126,612 votes (84.55 percent).