“Azerbaijan should improve the Elections Code, as well as change political culture and mentality of the people responsible for holding of next elections in accordance with democratic standards,” Janni Bukikkio, the secretary of the CE Venetia Commission, said to journalists in Baku on Friday,Trend reports.
Referring to the preliminary report by the Council of Europe, saying that the 6 November parliamentary elections did not meet the standards of the organization fully, Bukikkio mentioned importance of investigating of all violations and punishment of the people committed them.
“During the meeting with Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani President, I supported his initiative concerning inking of fingers and measures on ensuring of participation of all local nongovernmental organizations in the monitoring of the elections. The same time I expressed hope in investigation of violations and imposing of certain sanctions in regard to the people committed law,” he said. Bukukkio does not regard the current Elections Code as ideal, but as sufficient for holding of normal elections. “Implementation of law is more important. The elections may be organized better even with the existing code. The text of the code was considerably improved, but there are some moments to be changed. We will cooperate to bring the code to the level of European standards,” he underlined.
Noting that the Venetia Commission could not dictate liabilities, Bukikkio stressed that the question was only recommendations. “The last 2 recommendations by the Venetia Commission concern principles of formation of elections committees and consideration of complaints on elections. The Venetia Commission is at disposal of Azerbaijan to assist in improvement of the Elections Code, but everything depends on Azerbaijan’s will,” he stated. According to Bukikkio, there is a mean of work with the Venetia Commission through the official bodies of the CE. “We want to receive an official inquiry from the Ministers Committee of the CE and PACE to consider any issues on Azerbaijan. In this case Azerbaijan as any member-country is due to participate in the work of the Venetia Commission to discuss the issue sent to the VC by the PACE,” he underlined.