“A decree by the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, dated to 25 October is appraised as a step forward,” Reno Harnish, the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, told journalists on 2 November. He was commenting on the last presidential decree on the implementation of the urgent measures linked with the preparation and holding of parliamentary elections.
“If the decree is implemented effectively, it will be a reply to some dark milestones, which are open for the time being,” the diplomat underlined. For instance, if the equipment for inking the voters’ fingers is used in the right manner, it will prevent the repeated use of the ballot papers. Besides, if the Prosecutor’s Office succeeded correctly and timely check the complaints, the officials of the elections bodies would seriously accept a warning on inadmissibility of the violation of the Elections Code.
“There are still unresolved problems and I hope the government will be involved in their resolution. Despite the adoption of a presidential decree, there is still information on pressures on the candidates by the head and officials of the Executive Powers. Such facts must be studied and the guilty ought to be punished,” Harnish underlined.
Touching upon the refusal by the Mayoral Office to sanction a concert-rally of Azadlyg elections bloc scheduled for 4 November, the Ambassador said that the authorities and the opposition should come to an agreement in this question. “Democracy is a consistent process and it is impossible to achieve it in high level. The most important for the authorities is the timely resolution of problems concerning anxiety,” he underlined
In reply to question on refusal of the US National Democracy Institute (NDI) from the participation in the observation of the parliamentary elections, Harnish said that the question should be necessarily passed to Ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and NDI representatives. The same time the Ambassador voiced the NDI’s satisfaction with the removal of bar on the participation of the NGOs with 30% financing from abroad in the observation of the elections.