BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 6. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) believes in the fairness and transparency of Azerbaijan's upcoming presidential election, head of delegation, Secretary General of SCO Zhang Ming said at a meeting with the Chairman of the Azerbaijani Central Election Commission (CEC) Mazahir Panahov, Trend reports.
During the meeting, Panahov stated that for the first time in Azerbaijan, elections will be held throughout the country.
He reminded the guests that more than one million Azerbaijanis had become internally displaced persons as a result of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands. Azerbaijan liberated its areas from the occupation in 2020 and will fully restore its territorial integrity by 2023.
Panahov said that 26 polling stations had been constructed in the liberated territories.
The CEC chairman also stated that seven candidates will contest for the role of the country's leader in the presidential election and that they will receive free airtime three times a week during the pre-election campaign.
Besides, Panahov emphasized that more than 90,000 observers will monitor the election.
Ming noted that the presidential election is a very significant event and expressed confidence that the results of the election in Azerbaijan will be successful for the further development of the country.
He stressed that Azerbaijan, one of the closest partners of the SCO, has achieved great success in all areas in recent years.
"According to the charter, the general principles of our mission are non-interference in the internal affairs of the country and identifying shortcomings and other issues. We'll publish the results on February 8, when our observation mission will be completed," he noted.
"We believe that the Azerbaijani people will show their political will and vote for their worthy candidate,” added Ming.
On December 7, 2023, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev signed a decree calling for an extraordinary
presidential election in the country on February 7, 2024.
On December 19, the CEC of Azerbaijan approved the candidacy of
Ilham Aliyev, nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP),
for participation in the extraordinary presidential election.
Azerbaijan has registered seven candidates to run in the
extraordinary presidential election.
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