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Official Baku hasn’t invited NATO Parliamentary Assembly representatives to observe the presidential elections in the country, NATO PA informed Haqqin.az Azerbaijani news portal.

According to the information, official Baku’s decision not to invite NATO representatives to observe the elections was an absolute surprise. The NATO PA source notes that Baku, as a rule, invites their representatives to elections, but this year no such invitation was received for some reason.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan in its turn reported that sending invitations to parliamentary delegations is up to the parliament, and that is why it is better to address the Milli Majlis (MM). According to the article the parliament press service confirmed that the NATO PA is really not included in the list of invited delegations.

The portal notes that NATO PA monitoring mission participated in Azerbaijani elections of 2003 and 2008, as well as the parliamentary elections of 2005.

The presidential elections are scheduled in Azerbaijan on 9 October 2013. The previous presidential elections were held on 15 October 2008. The current president Ilham Aliyev is on this position for two terms already - since 2003. In March 2009 a referendum on making amendments to the Constitution was held in Azerbaijan, which repealed the restriction on one person remaining in office for more than two consecutive terms. The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe stated in this regard, "Giving one person the right to be repeatedly elected to the presidency is seen as a step backwards in the development of democracy."