Despite protests, Azerbaijani CC approves election outcomes

Despite the objections of hundreds of candidates for MPs, the Constitutional Court (CC) of Azerbaijan has declared that the parliamentary elections have taken place. On March 5, outside the CC building, protesters promised to complain to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) about election violations.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the early parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9, and the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the victory of the ruling "New Azerbaijan Party". Activists reported massive violations and falsifications committed during the elections.

The Azerbaijani CC has approved the parliamentary election outcomes in 121 constituencies out of 125. The ruling "Eni (New) Azerbaijan" Party has receives the majority of seats in parliament, regardless of the election outcomes in the four remaining constituencies. No one, except Erkin Gadirli, a member of the Republican Alternative (ReAl) Party, has passed into the parliament from the opposition.

On March 5, another protest action of oppositional candidates was held in front of the CC building.

Policemen prevented protesters from approaching the building, but the candidates did not disperse. Farkhad Mekhtiev, a candidate for an MP, has treated the CC's decision to approve the election outcomes to be political, since numerous election violations received no legal assessment. Zia Gulieva, another participant in the protest action and another candidate, has stated that if the ECtHR acknowledges the election violations, it will cast doubt on the legitimacy of the entire parliament, the "Turan" News Agency reports.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 5, 2020 at 07:32 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.