The February 9 parliamentary elections have already gone into history as a significant event in the public-political life of the country. The elections, which took place in the atmosphere of high political activity, have been held in a democratic and transparent way. Numerous international observation missions, as well as local observers, also share this opinion. The International Election Observation Mission consisting of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) and the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly announced on February 10 their preliminary conclusions on the snap parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.
The registration of a great number of candidates, the inclusiveness of their registration process, as well as the participation of representatives of 19 political parties, are assessed as positive in the report. At the same time, the participation of 89, 000 local and 883 international observers, the providing of the election administration with resources at a high level and the following of all the regulations defined by the law despite a short period of time are also appreciated. The efforts made by the Central Election Commission to work transparently and warm attitude towards international observers, the increase of transparency to observers and media are especially highlighted. It is noted in the report that significant works have been carried out to ensure the voting right of IDPs; the setting up of web cameras for observing the course of the elections was assessed as a positive factor.
At the same time, it is also emphasized in the report that it was not possible to hold the elections in 10 constituencies which are not under Azerbaijan’s full or partial control due to the conflict with Armenia.
At the press conference, some “axes with sticks of our own” raised the issue of giving authorities to the Azerbaijani delegation at the Council of Europe PA. In response to this, ardent anti-Azerbaijani Frank Schwabe said that he was skeptical to the issue and noted that it was much more complicated after what happened with the Russian delegation. Of course, it once again showed that “the axes with sticks of own” live in the virtual world and are far away from the reality. Therefore, head of the OSCE short-term observation mission Artur Gerasimov highlighted that only the Azerbaijani people define the issue of legitimacy.
Head of the ODIHR observation mission Peter Taylor noted that the issue was not in their capacity.
Thus, the general conclusion regarding the mission’s statement and press conference is that the procedural-organizational, methodological approach prevails in the ODIHR’s assessment. The claimed irregularities are assessed from the procedural and organizational point of view and are not presented in the form that might have an impact on the election results. The critique of the ODIHR regarding the elections does not show itself only towards Azerbaijan.
When compared, sometimes, very harsh problems are identified in Western European countries. We should regrettably note that “the axes with the sticks of our own” expected the statement doubting the election results, but they got absolutely disappointed, because it did not happen. Thus, the elections once again showed that the Azerbaijani government has no problem that it wants to hide from the international community, and it is ready for constructive cooperation with any international organization.
Sahaddin Huseynov