Raad van Europa stuurt waarnemingsmissie voor toezicht op algemene verkiezingen Azerbeidzjan (en)

Strasbourg, 13.10.2005 - According to the pre-electoral mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan on 6 November 2005 are a crucial opportunity for the Azerbaijani authorities to show that they have the political will and ability to organise democratic elections in line with Council of Europe standards and commitments that Azerbaijan itself subscribed to when joining the organisation. This is a chance Azerbaijan cannot afford to miss.

The pre-electoral mission welcomed several positive developments in comparison to previous elections in Azerbaijan. The largely trouble-free candidate registration process has led to a large number of candidates being able to register for these elections, which creates an opportunity for real debate and a genuine competition for the public vote on election day. Furthermore, despite the overly restrictive interpretation by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of media regulations governing these elections, all candidates seem to have access, albeit not always equal, to the public and private mass media to make their views heard among the electorate.

These positive developments notwithstanding, several issues remain of great concern. The pre-electoral mission especially regrets that a number of recommendations made by the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly, notably regarding a balanced composition of the electoral bodies at all levels and the dialogue and confidence-building measures between opposition and governing parties, were not implemented by the Azerbaijani authorities. This is a missed opportunity as these recommendations were made in the best interest of Azerbaijan to raise the confidence of the public and electoral stakeholders in the election process and to ensure the democratic conduct of these elections. Any serious irregularities on election day as a result of not implementing these recommendations could be construed as a lack of political will on behalf of the authorities to organise genuinely democratic elections in line with Council of Europe standards.

The distribution of the voter's cards, introduced as a measure to prevent multiple voting in lieu of the inking procedure recommended by OSCE/ODIHR, has proved to be problematic and a proper audit trail for these cards is lacking. Therefore, the effectiveness of the voter's cards as a mechanism to prevent multiple voting is questionable. This is especially of concern taking into account the large number of Azerbaijani citizens residing abroad who still remain on the voter's lists.

Freedom of assembly is an inalienable human right and an essential component of democratic elections. It is the role and obligation of the authorities, including the police forces, to facilitate the holding of peaceful public rallies and not to prevent them. At the same time, opposition parties should focus on the electoral debate and not provoke violent confrontations with the authorities. The disproportionate violence and brutality, bordering on outright cruelty, displayed by the police forces while breaking up public rallies in recent weeks is unacceptable in a democratic society and can only be condemned. In this respect it should be stressed that the authorities, and specifically the Minister of the Interior, are directly responsible for the behaviour of the police forces under their command.

Democratic elections demand a level playing field between the candidates. The abuse of administrative resources, the interference of the authorities in the election campaign, as well as the campaigning of local and regional officials on behalf of one candidate or the other undermine a level playing field and run counter to the electoral code of Azerbaijan.

Despite these concerns, the pre-electoral delegation is convinced that it is not too late for the authorities to make corrective measures and show their commitment to holding truly democratic elections. It would therefore like to make the following concrete recommendations:

The Presidential Decree of 11 May 2005, which was widely welcomed by the international community but largely ignored by the Azerbaijani authorities on the local and regional level, should be implemented without restrictions, especially the provisions prohibiting the abuse of administrative resources, the interference of local authorities in the election process and officials campaigning in favour of one candidate or the other.

The CEC should without delay decree the introduction of the inking procedure for the elections on 6 November 2005. The rapid introduction of the inking procedure will help compensate for the questionable effectiveness of the voter's card as a mechanism to prevent multiple voting on election day.

The authorities should abolish restrictions on the holding of peaceful public rallies and the Minister of the Interior, as well as the President of the Republic, should publicly instruct the police forces to show maximum restraint while maintaining public order during these rallies. Investigations should be started in cases of alleged police brutality and, if violations are found, perpetrators should be prosecuted.

A considerable number of complaints of alleged violations of the election law have already been referred by the CEC to the Public Prosecutor for investigation. In order to increase the confidence of the public and electoral stakeholders in the election process the Public Prosecutor should open formal investigations without delay and where violations are found perpetrators should be prosecuted according to the fullest extent of the law of Azerbaijan.

The pre-electoral delegation would like to reiterate the support of the Assembly for the democratic development of Azerbaijan. The Parliamentary Assembly will therefore deploy its largest mission ever to observe the parliamentary elections on 6 November 2005.

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The pre-electoral mission of the Parliamentary Assembly visited Azerbaijan from 11 to 13 October 2005 in order to assess the political climate and preparations in the run up to the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan on 6 November 2005. The pre-electoral mission, which is composed of a representative of each of the five political groups in the Assembly, consisted of:

Leo Platvoet (Netherlands, UEL), head of delegation

Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC)

Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD)

Hanne Severinsen (Denmark, ALDE)

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (Turkey, EDG)

Contact: Vladimir Dronov (Mob: +33 663 49 37 92; e-mail: vladimir.dronov@coe.int) or Bas Klein (Mob: +33 662 26 54 89; e-mail: bas.klein@coe.int)