Your trusted source

European election observers announced starkly different assessments of the 9 October presidential election in Azerbaijan, reads the article published on EUobserver.com site. It also notes that at the time when OSCE condemned the election, the European Parliament (EP) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace) praised the election and said they observed a "free, fair and transparent" process around Election Day.

“Like other autocrats in the region and beyond, Azerbaijan's President, Ilham Aliyev, seeks a veneer of international legitimacy and calls in pseudo election observers who assess the election positively, regardless of its integrity,” the authors note.

According to the article such observers may be motivated by various interests, political or economic, or even, reportedly, by gifts of Azerbaijan’s famous caviar. The trend of internationals overlooking a blatantly undemocratic election to cast legitimacy on the incumbent winner is only accentuated in an oil-rich state like Azerbaijan.

“Such divergent statements from European observers allow autocrats like Aliyev to “cherry pick” the observer statement they prefer, promoting positive findings with their domestic public through docile media, while ignoring the conclusions of more credible observers,” the publication says.

The EP/Pace statement lends legitimacy to a blatantly fraudulent process and undermines the work of domestic human rights activists, journalists and citizen election observers who have criticised it, often at great personal risk.

According to the article observer groups like the ODIHR go to lengths to ensure their findings are based on first-hand, objective, verifiable evidence. “The support of the EP and Pace for a clearly undemocratic election process is shameful,” the EUobserver.com writes.

Voters should ask their elected representatives why they are spending public funds to be cheerleaders for sham elections. The EP and the Pace should ask whether it makes sense to continue sending such observation missions, which discredit their organizations.