Azerbaijan, Baku, 11 January / Trend corr. I.Alizadeh / International organizations considers it important to change the composition of the election commissions, as well as the principles of the formation of commissions in Azerbaijan.
"Presently, negotiations with the Azerbaijani State have continued on this issue," Doglas Menarchik, the Deputy Head of the Department on Europe and Eurasian of the United States Agency on International Development (USAID), said to journalists in Baku on 11 January.
The Azerbaijani election commissions are formed from MPs of the ruling party, which make up the majority in Parliament, as well as MPs who make up the minority and neutrals in Parliament. However, the opposition demands that the election commission be formed on a parity basis. In this regard negotiations to re-form the election commissions have continued between the Azerbaijani State and international organizations.
The United States State Department, United States Agency on International Development, International Fund on Election Systems and Council of Europe considers it relevant for a re-formation of the election commissions in Azerbaijan. "I cannot say how the results of the negotiations have been held by the Azerbaijani State," he said.
Menarchik spoke of the necessity to introduce changes in the Azerbaijani Election Code. "It is necessary now to make changes in the Election Code of Azerbaijan. I believe that the changes will provide democratic conditions during the presidential election in Azerbaijan on 15 October 2008. Currently, we are engaged on this issue. However, I will not say what kind of changes need to be made," Menarchik said.