Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

The Election Observation Mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which was invited by the Azerbaijani authorities to monitor the November 1 parliamentary elections, appraised the Election Day as calm and peaceful across the country.

"The voting process was observed to be adequate and generally in line with international standards. Voters had full and unimpeded access to polling stations and there were no incidents reported by the observers," the PACE mission reported on November 2.

The mission further said that the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan contributed to the transparency of the process by releasing updates from the opening of the polls until the end of the counting and tabulation of the results.

"Based on the observations of the Mission and meetings with other stakeholders, it can be stated that the preparation for the elections and the voting processes were professionally and technically well organized. Observers noted improvements in the access of voters to information, the inclusiveness of voter registration and the quality of electoral materials. Throughout Election Day, the Mission did not report any major or systemic violations of the Election Code." it reported.

PACE mission members believe that a welcome development was the introduction of web cameras in 20 percent of polling stations, as specifically requested by the Venice Commission.

"No acts of pressure on voters or any other incidents in or near the polling stations were observed. There was no police presence around the polling stations or any campaign and electoral materials nearby," PACE mission reported.

Touching upon the refusal of the European Parliament, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and OSCE/ODIHR to deploy their own observation missions, the PACE mission noted that, despite these organizations' absence, multiple local and international observers were involved in monitoring the parliamentary election in the country.

"The significant increase in voter turnout and the transparency of voting and counting procedures demonstrate another step forward taken by the Republic of Azerbaijan towards free, fair and democratic elections and that the results of this vote express the will of the Azerbaijani people," PACE mission reported.

The Mission also underlines the importance of the findings of other international organizations (the European Parliament, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and OSCE/ODIHR) regarding previous and current elections.

As Azerbaijan is a country under the Assembly’s monitoring procedure, this Mission recommends to the Assembly to continue its co-operation with the Azerbaijani authorities, in order for Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligations and commitments, as agreed during its accession to the Council of Europe.

The PACE election observation mission comprised 28 members and was led by Jordi Xuclà. The members were deployed in several areas of the country and the capital, Baku, and observed in a wide number of polling stations.

The Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan announced the results of the voting at the Azerbaijani parliamentary election on November 2.

The election was declared valid at all the polling stations, and the voter turnout at the election was 55.7 percent. Over 2.89 million voters cast their ballots during the election, which is six percent more than in the previous election.

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

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