Azerbaijan, Baku, 15 February/ corr. Trend S. Ilhamgizi/ The closing statement made at the conference on the composition of the election committees in Azerbaijan which was held with the support of IFES and the Council of Europe on 7 to 9 November 2007 was published in Baku and presented to Trend on 14 February.
The closing statement reports on the agenda, the participants, the subject of discussions at the roundtable and the proposals put forward regarding the composition of the election committees by the political parties held on 7 to 9 November.
The closing statement stated that the roundtable fully explored the important issues of the complaints and appeals, and provided a forum which involved civilized discussions amongst political parties and NGOs. During the roundtable, concrete laws and articles were addressed and specific recommendations were proposed. The ideas and proposals that emerged from the roundtable will be presented for drafting intothe proposed legislation as well as to the Azerbaijani parliament for approval of the amendments to the Election Code.
The composition of the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan includes six people from members of the party that represents the majority in parliament, six from the minority and another six from the neutral MPs.
The opposition parties of Azerbaijan has demanded changes be made to the composition of the election committees and that the Government to stop exercising control over them. However, the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party (New Azerbaijan Party) believes that there is no need to change the composition of the election committees and the current composition is the best.
The correspondent can be contacted at: [email protected]