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Samad Seyidov: â€œPACE considers that Azerbaijani People demonstrated free will and elected their presidentâ€

02 December 2008 10:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Elbrus Seyfullayev â€“ APA. Head of Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Samad Seyidov has held a press conference in the parliament today, APA reports. Samad Seyidov spoke about Azerbaijan-related discussions held at the meetings of the Council of Europe Bureau and PACE Permanent Committee. Seyidov said the presidential elections in Azerbaijan had been discussed at the meetings, PACE co-rapporteur on Azerbaijan Andres Herkel addressed the meeting and noted that the presidential elections held in Azerbaijan met the European standards.
â€œThe Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe considers that Azerbaijani People demonstrated free will and elected their president. The report prepared in PACE says that Azerbaijani people voted for stability and sustainability,â€ he said.

Samad Seyidov said the PACE Permanent Committee expressed regret that five opposition parties had not participated in the presidential elections in Azerbaijan.
â€œThe report noted that the authorities had had dialogue with the opposition, and underlined the importance of carrying on dialogue inside the opposition,â€ he said.

According to the head of the delegation, PACE Observation Mission noted that the elections had been well-organized, legislation improved in Azerbaijan, and underlined the importance of continuing cooperation to achieve better results. According to the missionâ€™s report, five opposition partiesâ€™ refusing to participate in the elections in Azerbaijan was linked to the lack of competition.
â€œPACE mission considers those who did not participate in the elections had known beforehand that they would not win and executed manoeuvre by preserving their chances for 2010 elections,â€ he said.

Seyidov said PACE Permanent Committeeâ€™s decision described the elections in Azerbaijan as a peopleâ€™s will and therefore this issue would not be discussed at the PACE January session. He said PACE would discuss the presidential elections in Armenia only. â€œThe Council of Europe issued resolution on the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, but the processes in Armenia do not create conditions for fulfilling of the resolution. It shows that discussion on Armenia will not be easyâ€.

Seyidov said PACE session would discuss and analyze contradictions took place in the positions of PACE and OSCE on the elections in Azerbaijan. â€œWe consider that this issue should be seriously discussed and the session has to analyze the facts such as shadowing of the elections, reporting before the announcing of the resultsâ€.
Seyidov said Russia-Georgia relations were also focused at the Madrid meeting. â€œThe Council of Europe wants to solve problem between the two countries. This issue was included in the agenda of the PACE January sessionâ€.

Seyidov said PACE winter session would take place on January 26-30.