OSCE offers to increase the number of observers at presidential election in Azerbaijan

The pre-election assessment mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has released recommendations for organizing the monitoring of the presidential election in Azerbaijan to be held in the second half of October. The mission recommended that the main monitoring group deployed 8 months before the election should be complemented by about 300 additional observers.

The report of the above mission that visited Baku on June 17-21, was posted on July 12 on the official website of the ODIHR.

Experts emphasize that all the chairs of the local election commissions were appointed by the parliamentary majority that "undermines the confidence in the impartiality of these commissions."

The amendments to the Constitution, enforced in 2009, allowed the incumbent president to run for the third term, the report says. Earlier, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe called the amendment "a step back from the road to democracy."

The report also quotes statements of some interviewees that they "face serious problems in exercising their fundamental freedoms in the pre-election period." In particular, they talked about a restriction to freely express their political opinions, on the freedom of assembly and the freedom of association.

Several national nongovernmental organizations are planning to hold a process of long-term observations. However, the Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Training, which plans to conduct a parallel vote count, is still denied state registration.

Although there are only a little more than three months left before the election, there is still time to correct the situation and create more or less acceptable conditions for a fair rivalry, said Anar Mamedli, a co-founder of the Alliance in Defence of Political Freedoms (ADPF).