ODIHR: Azerbaijani government should show political will to eliminate violations during election
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) published its final report on the Azerbajiani elections held on October 9 of the current year.
The report recommends measures to enhance the conduct of elections in Azerbaijan and to bring national legislation in line with international standards. A publicly inclusive review of the current legal framework for freedom of assembly, expression and association is among the suggested measures.
“The report adds that political determination is needed to improve the integrity of the electoral process by preventing serious violations,” the document reads.
The Election Code should be amended through an inclusive process to revise the composition of election commissions at all levels, with the aim of enhancing impartiality and public confidence.
The right of voters to receive comprehensive and diverse information about political alternatives through the media should be addressed by the Election Code and authorities should consider decriminalizing defamation, the report says.
“The report adds that political determination is needed to improve the integrity of the electoral process by preventing serious violations, such as ballot box stuffing and alterations of results protocols,” the report says.
ODIHR notes that there were serious violations detected during the Azerbaijani elections. Thus 58 per cent of observed polling stations were assessed as bad or very bad. Very serious problems were indicated. “Indications of a further 23 cases of ballot box stuffing out of 131 were noted during the count,” the document reads.
On 9 October presidential elections took place in Azerbaijan in which the incumbent president Ilham Aliyev won the elections with almost 85% of the vote, thereby taking the post for the third time. The head of National Council of Democratic Forces Jamil Hasanli was second after Aliyev with 5.5% of vote. The opposition declared that it wouldn’t accept the election results because the elections were totally violated by ballot-box staffing, “carousel” etc. OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, U.S Department of State, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Britain and European Parliament called the elections undemocratic and inconsistent with OSCE standards.
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