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Wolfgang Grossruck: â€œTo highlight more negative aspects of issues has already become the nature of OSCE/ODIHRâ€

14 October 2013 10:38 (UTC +04:00)

Budva. Fuad Gulubeyli – APA. “I was also a member of the OSCE PA observation mission in the Azerbaijani presidential elections. I would like to note that I also participated in the parliamentary elections of Azerbaijan three years ago and worked as a special coordinator of the OSCE PA. The chaotic picture observed during the press conference held a day after the election shows that compared to three years ago the elections have been taken less serious during the observation process,” Austrian MP Wolfgang Grossruck told APA’s European correspondent at the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Budva, Montenegro.

Wolfgang Grossruck said that in its conclusions, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is trying to highlight more negative aspects of these issues and this has already become the nature of ODIHR: “I should note with regret that this organization always cites to biased articles and opinions issued in the Western and European media and tries to underline only negative elements. It happened again. I have been observing the elections in Azerbaijan since 1990 and indeed, progress has been made in recent elections. There are considerable positive changes regarding the technical aspects of the elections, the formation and improvement of constituencies. I myself have not seen any irregularities at the polling stations, which I visited on the election day. These elections were generally well-organized. As for the rigging in the elections, we must be based on concrete facts. That is, how, where, when, by whom and etc. The notes and reports in ODIHR observations are never based on concrete facts and always based on someone’s opinions. All countries face irregularities during the elections. For example, the head of a constituency in the Austrian elections has recently faced scandal. In general, OSCE should put an end to such dissension in observation of elections and new methods should be developed. And it is not only related with the Azerbaijani elections, the methodology of ODIHR regarding the elections should be changed. Because the standards of this organization have been applied for 20 years. The world has changed, many things have changed and the form of irregularities has also changed. Therefore, we must develop new standards and methodology. Foremost, the new relations basing on new working principles should be built between the OSCE PA and ODIHR.”