Azerbaijan, Baku, 31 March / Trend corr I. Alizade/ The suggestions on re-forming of the election committees in Azerbaijan which were put forward by the opposition parties may be discussed at the Parliament. "During the discussions over the supplements and changes in the Election Code at the recent meeting of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (CE) the official representative of the Executive Presidential Administration stated that the suggestions made by the opposition parties regarding the re-forming of the election committees will be submitted to Parliament for their consideration. The Election Code, as well as the supplements and changes in the Law on Freedom of Assembly, may be considered during the discussions at Parliament along with the suggestions made by the political parties on re-forming the election committees," the member of the Venice Commission Latif Huseynov said to journalists on 31 March.
The election committees in Azerbaijan usually consist of representatives of the political parties which comprise the majority at Parliament, as well as of the parties which represent the minority and neutral MPs. The Central Election Committee (CEC) consists of 18 members. The opposition parties are urging for the formation of the elections committees of the representatives of the authorities and opposition to be equal
According to Huseynov, the project which was submitted by the Azerbaijani Government to the Venice Commission does not envisage re-forming of the election committees. "The Azerbaijani Government believes that democratic elections can be held with the present constitution of the election committees. And the Council of Europe did not make any suggestions on re-forming," he said.