Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.26
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:
European Parliament people are very happy with the way the referendum in Azerbaijan has been organized, Tony Mallett, independent observer from Belgium, told Trend Sept.26.
Mallett was following the European People's Party (EPP) which is a large party in the European Parliament of observers.
He said they went around two polling stations to see that the voting process was correct.
“I have just now spoken to an exit poll company which has got people all over the country talking to voters as they come out of the polls, and we are looking now already more than 90 percent of Azerbaijani voters are in favour of all 29 amendments,” said Mallett.
The remarks from very experienced observers, who have watched elections all around the world, show that they are very happy with how it was organized, he noted.
“The voters seem very happy with the amendments,” added Mallet.
The referendum to make amendments to Azerbaijan’s Constitution kicked off at 08:00 and will wrap up at 19:00 (UTC/GMT +4).
The number of voters in Azerbaijan stands at 5,267,111 people, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).
As many as 117 international observers – MPs from over 30 countries as well as observers from various international organizations, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) – have been accredited by Azerbaijan’s CEC to observe the referendum.
The total number of the observers is around 53,000.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order to hold a referendum on amending the Constitution on Sept. 26.
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