Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 8 / Trend /
Editor's note: Photos added
A mission of the OSCE PA considers the voting in Azerbaijani parliamentary elections as positive.The voting in Azerbaijani parliamentary elections is assessed positively, Wolfang Grossruck, the head of the OSCE PA long-term mission, said at a press conference.
The observers of the OSCE mission stressed serious efforts by the authorities to ensure fair elections.
"A peaceful atmosphere in the elections was stressed compared to the previous parliamentary elections. There were no incidents," he said at a press conference as a result of the mission's activity in Azerbaijan.
The head of the mission called participation of many political parties in the elections as a positive factor. He noted the good technical organization of the elections by the CEC as another positive feature at the elections in Azerbaijan.
The observers of the OSCE mission observed about 90 percent polling stations, he said.
However, the head of the OSCE PA mission noted some shortcomings in the electoral process, including the lack of criticism, the unequal access of political parties to the media, the reduction of the pre-election campaign.
Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were held in accordance with all international and the OSCE standards, Paul Wille, the head of the PACE observation mission, said at a press-conference.
"The elections were held in peaceful atmosphere. The elections were held at a high professional level from the technical point of view," he said
He said that all this gives an opportunity to talk about the development of Azerbaijan as a democratic country.
"One could observe that the candidates spoke only about themselves and their rivals in the pre-election debates on TV. No constructive proposals were voiced to improve the lives of citizens," he said.
Anneli Jaatteenneaki, the representative of the European Parliament, said that the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were technically well-organized.
"The elections were held in a peaceful atmosphere. Unfortunately, we got the reports about the violation of human rights of the observers from the opposition", she said.
Azerbaijan held the parliamentary elections Nov. 7.
The voter turnout hit about 50.14 percent (roughly 2.48 million voters) in Azerbaijan, the CEC's Elections Information Center told Trend.
The CEC reported that 690 candidates are 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.