Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 31
Trend:
The government of Azerbaijan has taken all necessary measures to guarantee free, open and transparent election, said spokesman for Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan Hikmat Hajiyev.
He made the remarks Oct. 31 in his article published by "Politico" news website in response to the biased article "Azerbaijan: an area of darkness" by Nils Muizneks (October 28, 2015, politico.eu)
The upcoming parliamentary election will be observed by more than 500 international observers representing PACE, OIC, CIS, BSEC, Turkish Council and other institutions, Hajiyev said. Meanwhile, 60,000 more local observers will take part in the election, he said.
Hajiyev went on to add that the article by Muizneks published Oct.28 doesn't reflect the realities on the ground in Azerbaijan and falls short of a providing a complete view of the pre-election environment in Azerbaijan.
"In the article, Muizneks, before the announcement of the official results of the parliamentary elections on November 1, attempts to make prejudgments about its outcome," Hajiyev said in his article. "He also goes on to speak on behalf of the Azerbaijani electorate numbering 5 million people and 1,200 candidates."
Without referring to substantiated facts, Nils Muiznieks's political statement, "elections in Azerbaijan have been marred by irregularities since the country became independent in 1991," can be construed as disregard for the candidates and observers who are involved in these elections, he said.
"In the same realm, with regard to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights election observation mission, the author did not mention that OSCE/ODHIR, instead of providing a clear explanation for disproportionality between election constituencies and the number of 400 observers, made an arbitrary decision to cancel its mission to Azerbaijan," Hajiyev said.
OSCE/ODHIR is authorized and paid to provide technical support for member states in elections, but not to make political judgments, according to the article.
OSCE/ODHIR's reaction constitutes a blatant violation of its mandate, which needs to be reviewed by the OSCE members as was discussed during the session of the OSCE Permanent Council, the article said.
Hajiyev said in his article that interpreting the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights of 2005 and 2010 in the context of political terms, Muiznieks passes in silence over the judgment of ECRH on the case of Chiragov and others vs. Armenia on June 16, 2015.
The head of the press service said in his article that elections are an important component of the democratic process in every country.
"Regardless of what has been said, the free will of the Azerbaijani people, their active participation, and their votes will determine the outcome of elections," said article.
Azerbaijan will hold parliamentary election Nov.1, with participation of 767 candidates.
There are as many as 501 observers from 40 international structures accredited in the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan for observing the parliamentary election. In total, the missions representing 53 countries will observe the election.