Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend K.Ramazanova / Representatives of the Venice Commission will arrive in Baku on the evening of 6 November, representative of the Venice Commission, Sergey Kuznetsov, reported on 5 November by telephone from Strasburg.
Issues regarding complaining about decisions linked to the election process in Azerbaijan and forming election commissions will again be discussed in Baku on 7-9 November at a meeting attended by representatives from the Venice Commission, OSCE, Azerbaijani Government and political parties.
"We hope that the interested sides will actively participate in the discussions over the improvement of the system considering complaints and problems in forming commissions," Kuznetsov said.
Discussions will take place with regards to the improvement of the Electoral Code on the eve of the 2008 Presidential elections in Azerbaijan. Work on the Electoral Code was planned to be completed by autumn, but the issue was delayed due to the position of the opposition parties on formation of election commissions.
In June the Azadlyg bloc which combines three opposition parties sent a pack of proposals concerning amendments and annexes to Azerbaijan's Electoral Code to the Venice Commission. The proposals reflected the issue of forming a new election commission on a parity base.
Other opposition parties highlighted their plans to prepare and submit new proposals to the Government of Azerbaijan and the Venice Commission. They state that the election commissions should be formed on a parity basis from representatives of the government and the opposition. Decisions of the election commissions should be made on 50+1 through voting. Earlier the sides repeatedly discussed the issue of improving the organization considering complaints during the election process. According to Kuznetsov, after each election in Azerbaijan, many participants of the election process highlighted the inefficiency of the complaint considering system. This process is delayed by the higher election commissions and courts.
Earlier the Head of Azerbaijani Parliament Apparat, Safa Mirzayev, stated that the meeting in Baku will agree upon changes to the Electoral Code concerning a reduction in the complaints consideration period.
The joint work of the Venice Commission, OSCE and the Azerbaijani Government has already made the decision to attach an article to the Electoral Code regarding the marking of fingers during elections. This innovation was approved by the Azerbaijani President during the 2005 Parliamentary elections.