Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 3 / Trend /
The CIS observer mission considers that Azerbaijan has created equal conditions for political parties taking part in the upcoming parliamentary elections, CIS Executive Committee Chairman and mission head Sergei Lebedev was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass.
"According to our estimates, Azerbaijan has created equal conditions for the representatives of various political parties to take part in the elections and campaign freely," he stressed. "All 700 registered candidates have been provided with four minutes of free airtime on public television and space for publications in the press to present their election programs."
The parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are scheduled for Nov. 7. Previous elections were held in November 2005. The elections in Azerbaijan are held by the majority system in 125 constituencies.
He added that the mission was sent to Azerbaijan "in advance of the republic's invitation" and includes 348 people from the members of national parliaments, representatives of electoral bodies, and CIS diplomatic corps, as well as members of the CIS Executive Committee, and observers from the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia.
The mission's headquarters in Baku has been coordinating the activities of the observers from Oct. 18. The headquarters is engaged in preparing documents to accredit observers, monitoring the election campaign, collecting and analyzing materials about the electoral process, reviewing the electoral process on a legal basis, monitoring media, and holding meetings with the representatives of various political parties in the regions, Lebedev said.
He also stressed that the Central Election Commission was found to be "open and transparent."
The mission headquarters interacts with the country's authorities in monitoring the election campaign. The CIS mission has met with the leadership of General Persecutor's Office, the Supreme Court and the Interior Ministry to discuss related issues, Lebedev added.
Regarding election day, he said that "the mission will observe the voting process and try to attend the opening and closing of the polling stations, as well as the counting of the votes."
The CIS observation mission will issue a preliminary report on the day after the elections. The final report will be prepared within two months after the elections.