Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.3
Trend:
The parliamentary election in Azerbaijan was held in compliance with the democratic principles and reflected the Azerbaijani people's will, Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani president's aide for public and political affairs, said.
Hasanov's remarks came in response to the position of the US Department of State on the parliamentary election held in Azerbaijan Nov.1, AzerTAg state news agency reported.
The top official noted that the election was transparent and fair.
Over 30 observation missions representing the entire world, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, highly assessed the election, according to the president's aide.
The EU said that the election in Azerbaijan was held in accordance with the international standards, it was transparent, comprehensive and expressed readiness to cooperate with the new parliament, he added.
"Taking all this into account, we can unambiguously say that the refusal of the OSCE/ODIHR to observe the parliamentary election can't cast doubt on the legitimacy of this election," said Hasanov.
The president's aide further said the Azerbaijani government invited the OSCE/ODIHR to observe the election and has repeatedly stated its openness to hold discussions on the mission's work.
"Unfortunately, the OSCE/ODIHR didn't appreciate this initiative and refused to send a mission to Azerbaijan," said Hasanov.
"We believe this is a politicized decision, not complying with principles and charter of the OSCE, which is an interstate collegial structure," he said, adding that the ODIHR, by taking such a step, created an unpleasant precedent in the election observation practice.
The top official said that the Azerbaijani government fulfills all its tasks in accordance with the country's law and international obligations. He added that Azerbaijan is also interested in developing equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with the organizations in which the country is a member state.
Azerbaijan is an independent, dynamically developing state which never builds its policy base on anyone's wishes and won't further accept the attempts of any force to work their will upon it, the top official concluded.