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Samad Seyidov: â€œThese elections were the most open and transparent elections in the history of my countryâ€

22 November 2013 15:10 (UTC +04:00)

Seyidov said that those parliamentarians are showing very few unconfirmed facts occurred during the elections as general tendency characterizing the elections in Azerbaijan: “It is not true, my dear colleagues. These elections were the most open and transparent elections in the history of my country and there are many more facts confirming it. All polling stations were open to all international observers. Furthermore, the observers took part in the vote counting. This is unavailable in many member countries of the Council of Europe. We organized videoconferences and internet broadcasting was available in all polling stations. Thousands of observers from a number of countries and organizations were observing the elections and most of them made positive assessments. Only one organization, or rather, a part of the organization, OSCE Office for Democracy and Human Rights took a negative position.”

Seyidov noted that the three influential European organizations – the European Parliament, PACE and OSCE PA expressed their common views in their joint statement: “The European Union has never denied its report and only a few members of the Green Party of the European Parliament have suggested their amendments. Today, the Council of Europe and the European Union are observing both positive and negative developments in Azerbaijan and we accept it. For example, there are enough critical remarks in our today’s report. Azerbaijan is always ready for dialogue and cooperation and we will do our best to improve the situation in our country. I consider that in such matters, Azerbaijan, where 90 percent of the population is Muslim, should serve as an example for other countries. We have become a full member of the Council of Europe, are cooperating with a number of European organizations and democratic institutions are developing in our country. Azerbaijan is the only country in the region that has increased its budget by 20 times and reduced poverty from 50% to 5%. over the last ten years. We have done everything needed regarding the elections. These elections demonstrate the will of the Azerbaijani people and have once more proved that Ilham Aliyev is the President of the Azerbaijani people."