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OSCE/ODIHR releases final report on parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan â€“ UPDATED

OSCE/ODIHR releases final report on parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan â€“ <font color=red>UPDATED </font>

26 January 2011 10:37 (UTC +04:00)

According to APA, the report contains final assessment by the OSCE long- and short-term missions observing the election campaign in Azerbaijan.

The elections were characterized by a peaceful atmosphere and all opposition parties participated in the political process, the report reads.

The report also reads that certain conditions necessary for a meaningful and competitive election were lacking in these elections and there were problems with fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression, as well as with political discourse facilitated by free and independent media.

Amendments to the Election Code were passed in June 2010. They shortened the election period and the official campaign period and pro-government forces dominated in the election commissions, said the document. â€œThe Central Election Commission (CEC) completed all technical electoral preparations and requirements within legal deadlines, elaborated numerous regulations well in advance and launched an extensive voter education campaign, including in the media. The CEC undertook serious efforts to improve the quality of the centralized voter registerâ€.

The process of candidate registration also faced with some problems, the observers said in the report.

â€œThe campaign was calm and low-key, generating little public interestâ€, the observers said and criticized media coverage of the elections.

â€œThe CEC provided each candidate with four minutes of free airtime in the form of daily roundtable debates, this was not enough to make up for the general absence of sufficiently pluralistic coverageâ€, the report reads.

â€œThe share of female candidates increased slightly compared to the last parliamentary elections as did the number of women elected, from 14 in the outgoing parliament to 20. However, women remained under-represented as candidates and in the higher levels of the election administrationâ€, the observers said. â€œOn election day, international observers assessed voting procedures negatively in 11 per cent of the 1,247 polling stations visitedâ€.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for the 7 November 2010 parliamentary elections. These elections were assessed for compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, and domestic legislation. For election-day observation, the OSCE/ODIHR EOM joined efforts with delegations of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament (EP).