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“Azerbaijan’s referendum organized professionally”

Politics Materials 26 September 2016 20:04 (UTC +04:00)
The referendum in Azerbaijan has been organized professionally.
“Azerbaijan’s referendum organized professionally”

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 26

By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:

The referendum in Azerbaijan has been organized professionally, Mario Henrique, head of the European People’s Party (EPP) delegation, told Trend Sept. 26.

“We have visited a lot of polling stations. Yesterday we had a meeting with the leadership of the Central Election Commission to brief us on the procedures,” said Henrique. “And today each one of us participated at the opening of one polling station.”

“Then in the course of the day we visited more than a dozen polling stations and at 19:00 we are going to witness closing of three or four polling stations, he added.

Henrique welcomed the work of the country’s Central Election Commission and noted the high voter turnout in the morning.

The procedures and voting rights of the citizens were fulfilled according to the international standards, according to the good practices, he noted.

“I have talked with members of other delegations and everyone is of the same opinion,” added Henrique. “We are very happy to witness this.”

“Citizens, to whom we have talked, seem to be informed of what they are voting for,” he said. “If they needed any help, that help was provided by the head of the polling stations.”

“There were observers everywhere we have been. All the process went in a peaceful, very well organized way,” added the expert. “Let’s wait for what the people have decided, because it is the will of the people what we want to know.”

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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Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova

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