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Baku blasts OSCE criticism amid election observation row

13 October 2015 17:30 (UTC+04:00)
Baku blasts OSCE criticism amid election observation row

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry has stated that OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has no ground to voice an opinion on the results of the upcoming November 1 parliamentary election in Azerbaijan if it does not participate as an observer.

Azerbaijan, complying with its commitments as part of the OSCE, sent an invitation on July 14, 2015 to the OSCE/ODIHR to observe the parliamentary election scheduled for November 1, 2015.

“Azerbaijan also sent a reasoned response to the ODIHR with regard to that structure’s report in connection with the points, with which Baku didn’t agree. Thus, ODIHR’s sending 400 observers to Azerbaijan, which has a population of 9.5 million and 125 constituencies, isn’t logical," Hikmet Hajiyev, head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend on October 13, commenting on an earlier statement by the OSCE Secretary General.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, addressing a press conference in Moscow, expressed regret that it wasn’t possible to reach an agreement on sending an ODIHR observer mission for the Azerbaijani parliamentary election.

The ODIHR hasn’t yet been able to give a logical explanation to the discrepancy between the number of observers and the size of the population, Hajiyev said.

“Instead, the OSCE/ODIHR leadership unilaterally, without consultations, and flagrantly violating the mandate, decided that it won’t observe the parliamentary election in Azerbaijan,” he added.

Under the Helsinki Document, adopted in 1992, the OSCE/ODIHR’s main role lies in helping member states in implementing commitments in the human rights area.

According to a decision made by the OSCE Budapest Summit in 1994, the OSCE/ODIHR’s is set to carry out the function of an advisor. Under the Budapest document, the ODIHR, in consultation with the chairman-in-office, and acting in an advisory capacity, will take part in discussions with the Permanent Council, and provide information on implemented issues. Acting in close consultation with the chairman-in-office, the director of the ODIHR may propose further action.

“As it can be seen, the OSCE/ODIHR has no authority to make a unilateral decision without consultation with the chairman-in-office and the corresponding member state,” Hajiyev said.

The ODIHR, being an executive structure, however has gone beyond its authority and mandate and has taken a political decision.

“This once again shows that the ODIHR leadership, being under the influence of certain circles, deliberately politicizes such technical issues as the monitoring of elections,” he said. “Obviously, the aim is to prepare a platform for making unfounded claims against Azerbaijan after the election.”

The ODIHR, under the OSCE mandate, should hold consultations on this issue with the organization’s chairman-in-office and Azerbaijan, presenting constructive proposals to the OSCE Permanent Council.

“Azerbaijan is committed to a dialogue and principles of cooperation with the OSCE,” Hajiyev said.

Meanwhile, Baku’s invitation to the OSCE/ODIHR to send observers to the parliamentary election in Azerbaijan remains in force.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov believes that the ODIHR's decision to not attend the election in Azerbaijan is due to its own weakness.

“States are obliged to invite observers, including those from the OSCE, and it doesn’t matter how many observers will arrive,” he said on October 12 at a press conference held with Zannier, local Russian media reported

“That’s not the secretariat’s fault, but the structure that exists sequentially is subject to tests due to its looseness, and those, who are small in number and refuse to turn it into a full-fledged organization, prefer to keep it like that for it to be easy to be manipulated,” Lavrov noted.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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