Azerbaijan, Baku December 17 / Trend , U.Sadikhova /
A delegation of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, headed by Gaye Doganoglu (Turkey, EPP-CD), will arrive in Azerbaijan on Dec. 20 to observe the municipal elections in Azerbaijan on Dec. 23, 2009, the Congress reported.
Prior to the election day, the delegation will meet with representatives of government, opposition and electoral bodies. An exchange of views with media experts is planned to discuss developments, after the pre-election mission carried out by the Congress on 7 and 8 December. On election day the observation teams will monitor the vote in different areas of the country.
A press conference will be held as a result of monitoring.
The delegation will include representatives from Hungary, France, Estonia, Netherlands, Great Britain, Serbia.
About 15,682 members are expected to be elected for 1,718 municipalities. About 32,000 candidates to the municipalities have been registered in Azerbaijan. Candidates from 18 political parties have been registered. Municipal elections were held twice in 1999 and 2004.
The CEC registered 1,138 local observers, including 135 members of political parties. 802 local observers were registered on their own initiative. Ten candidates have also registered as observers of municipal candidates.