The latest report of the International Crisis Group (ICG) on the situation in Azerbaijan is based on the results of 2003 (presidential), 2004 (municipal) and 2005 (parliamentary) elections, the ICG project director for Caucasus Sabina Freiser said in a statement on 23 November at the news conference in Baku, Trend reports.
According to her, while preparing the document, ICG did not pursue the anti-government objectives. “Our goal is only to stimulate the work of the authorities”, Freiser said, reminding, that the ICG representatives, along with the representatives of other international institutions participated in the 6 November parliamentary elections monitoring.
В"We know that violations of the law have been recorded during the election campaign, at the results of which three heads of regional administrations had been dismissed”, Freiser said.
In the opinion of the ICG representative, in the period, when the revenue growth in Azerbaijan commenced, first, from the oil sale, the country needs a good legal base enabling to fight corruption.
В"I call on the opposition to use all legal ways to remove falsifications”, Freiser said, stressing that the country’s judicial system needs reforming for the violators to be properly criminally accountable in future.
In conclusion, the ICG project director stated that during the parliamentary elections 2005 some positive moments, which advantageously single out the latest election campaign from previous ones have been noted. A large adherence to the law, a large professionalism of the judicial system вЂ" all these are positive moments”, she noted.