Politics 19:17 01/11/2015

Azerbaijan: International media call parliamentary elections “imitation” not meeting democracy standards

Voter turnout at the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan was 50.1 percent (2230750 voters) as of 17:00 at the local time, said Rufat Gulmammadov, head of the Information Centre Elections, according to the Azerbaijani information agency Trend.


According to Turan agency, Azerbaijani opposition party Musavat said there are numerous law violations during the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. Most often, according to the statement of the party, there were cases of sending observers away from polling stations and restricting the observers’ chance to watch the ballot boxes. Before the start of the polls, the voting papers were counted without the observers’ presence. The observers were turned out of the stations in case they managed to film the voting carousels. The ballot boxes were reportedly stuffed since morning in some polling stations. The citizens’ attendance is low.
Referencing the Institute of Democratic Alternatives, Minval.az reports that about 20 cases of irregularities were registered during the polls. The observers representing the MP candidate Panah Husein were sent out of the polling station N13, and the ballot was stuffed. The whole process was led by the chairperson of the station. In addition, a samovar was heated at the door, and its smoke filled the station. The aim was to create a mess.


According to the website, only the MP candidate Azay Guliyev’s representative is active in the Binagadin polling station N19, 17 and 21. He manages to “observe” the process in three stations at the same time. About 30 voters hid themselves seeing Minval.az correspondents. The journalists, however, could hear two voters’ conversation; they said they would go to vote in another station, which did not check the marks made on the fingers.


Deutsche Welle also covered the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. It notes that President Ilham Aliyev's ruling party is widely expected to win Sunday's vote in the authoritarian state. International monitors say the election is unlikely to be free and fair. The website points out that mainstream opposition parties, including Musavat and the Popular Front, are boycotting the poll, blaming unfair election campaign rules. International rights groups have denounced the vote as an "imitation election," and many analysts say the outcome is a foregone conclusion.
Reuters agency writes that rights groups accuse the government of curbing freedoms and of silencing dissent, while the opposition complains of harassment, a lack of access to broadcasting, and draconian restrictions on campaigning.
Radio free Europe/ Radio Liberty writes that to hold a government position in Azerbaijan requires being a member of the ruling party, television is state controlled, and opposition leaders have long been subject to arrest on dubious charges and other forms of intimidation. Over the past two years, room for criticising the government has shrunk ever further. A wave of arrests has targeted opposition bloggers, human rights defenders, and journalists. President fully dominates the country's political life, with state media focusing far more on his activities than upon the upcoming election. Coverage in recent weeks has centered on Aliyev's dismissal of the minister of National Security, Eldar Mahmudov, and other ministry officials on charges of exceeding their authority and illegal interference in business. The purge is widely viewed as the outcome of a power dispute within the highly secretive ruling elite.
News agency Associated Press highlights that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's government long has faced criticism in the West for showing little tolerance for dissent and holding elections that fall below democratic standards.
Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan started on 1 November, where 767 candidates are struggling for the 125 seats in the Parliament. Around 5.2 million Azerbaijani citizens can use their right to vote in 5547 polling stations. The parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are observed by 503 international monitors from 40 organisations, including PACE, Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking Countries. International agencies took up rather stern stance regarding the upcoming parliamentary elections. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) announced that, due to restrictions imposed by the Azerbaijani authorities, ODIHR had no choice but to cancel its mission to observe the country’s parliamentary elections. The European Parliament followed the suit. 



Source Panorama.am
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