Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.8 / Trend, T.Konyayeva /
The GUAM Observation Mission assessed the Azerbaijani parliamentary elections as free and fair.
"The Parliamentary Elections in the Republic of Azerbaijan were organized and conducted in line with international, including the OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards for democratic elections, as well as the national legislation and the rules and procedures elaborated by the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan," GUAM Secretary General and GUAM Mission head Valeri Chechelashvili told Trend today.
In respect of the overall electoral process, organization of the elections and the activity of the commissions of the polling stations the Group of GUAM Observers has no substantial remarks.
"The elections took place in a calm atmosphere and genuinely competitive environment," Chechelashvili said.
Azerbaijan held the parliamentary elections on Nov.7. The voter turnout was 50.14 percent (2,480,205 voters), the Elections Information Center operating under the Azerbaijani Central Election Commission (CEC) told Trend.
The Azerbaijani CEC reported that 690 candidates were running for the parliamentary elections.
Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are held by the majority system in 125 constituencies. Previous parliamentary elections were held in November 2005.