Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 3
By Anahanum Khidayatova - Trend:
The statement from the US Department of State regarding the election in Azerbaijan held Nov. 1 was quite disappointing, Jason Katz, the head of the Tool Shed Group (consulting the governments of the foreign countries, NGOs and corporations in the areas of strategic communication and policy), the former spokesman for the American Jewish Committee, based in Los Angeles (USA), told Trend Nov. 3.
"The US Department of State's perspective didn't reflect the elections, certainly as I observed and witnessed them in Azerbaijan," Katz said.
He said that it seemed like a jab at Azerbaijan for the sake of making a jab.
Regarding the denial of the OSCE mission to monitor the election, by their own admission, it was a unilateral decision by one man at OSCE, according to Katz.
More importantly, there were certainly enough observers at the election from throughout the world including the US who found an excellent election process, he said.
Azerbaijan held its parliamentary election Nov. 1. As many as 767 candidates ran for 125 seats in the country's parliament. The election was monitored by 503 international observers from 40 organizations and over 66,000 local observers.
Following the election, many foreign observers, analysts and experts pointed out the transparency, openness and smooth voting process at the election, as well as high voter turnout.
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