21 October 2008, 11:57
EU: election in Azerbaijan, despite improvements, still does not meet international standards
The European Union, when making comments on the outcomes of the presidential election in Azerbaijan on October 15, has stated that local authorities had done a lot according to the recommendations of the Office for Democratic Institutes and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Venetian Commission.
Nevertheless, the election failed to meet the international standards. In particular, discrepancies have been registered at the levels of organizing debates, holding the voting and tabulation of votes. This is the topic of the EU's official statement, which has arrived to the Turan Agency from the French Embassy in Baku.
The document also calls on the authorities of Azerbaijan to continue their efforts in following their obligations in the sphere of democratic pluralism and freedom of mass media. These issues should be addressed within the European policy of neighbourhood.
On October 19, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) officially declared that Ilham Aliev, leader of the "Eni Azerbaijan" Party, was the winner at the election. In total, 3,232,259 persons, or 88.73 percent of all the voters who took part in the election, cast their ballots for Ilham Aliev. Thus, he has been re-elected to the post of the President for another term of 5 years.
The voter turnout made 75.64 percent (about 3.7 million persons). The CEC has invalidated the voting results only in 8 out of more than 5000 polling stations.
When announcing the official election results, Mazakhir Panakhov, Chairman of the Republic's CEC, has stated that for the first time in the history of independent Azerbaijan no complaints as to the outcomes of the election have been filed.
Author: Faik Medzhid, CK correspondent
