Statement by the pre-election Delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

The five-member pre-election delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (*) has noted improvements that should create conditions for a good election. Those improvements took account of a number of recommendations made by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. However not of all of them were fully addressed. It nevertheless admitted that some key issues, such as equitable representation in electoral commissions or fairness in conducting the campaign, are more the matter of electoral practice than that of the letter of the law. It is heartened by the assurances it received from top Azerbaijani representatives that their goal is to have an orderly and well administered election that will comply with European standards.

Being concerned about a presumed public disinterest, the Delegation firmly wishes that the electorate will have an increasing interest in the campaign that started yesterday.

Though with seven presidential candidates registered, a plurality of choices and competitiveness are to be expected, the decision by the five opposition parties not to participate in the vote is most unfortunate. Even if a political party and its leaders fail to see clear prospects of getting voted into power or they feel that their democratic rights are being limited or even violated, they should nonetheless participate in the electoral race in the interests of their followers.

In this connection, the Delegation urges all sides of the political spectrum, including those not participating in the elections, to act responsibly and engage in a meaningful dialogue with each other.

All political forces, whatever their differences, should go beyond mutual recriminations, addressing instead the issues of substance in a constructive interplay.

The Delegation was in Baku, 16-18 September 2008, at the invitation from the Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan to assess the political climate in the run-up to the elections and the state of preparations for the 15 October vote.

It met, inter alia, with the President of Azerbaijan, the Speaker of the Parliament, all presidential candidates, the leaders of the opposition parties, Ministers of the Interior and Justice, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, civil society and media representatives as well as members of the diplomatic corps in Baku. A full 30-member PACE observer delegation will arrive in Azerbaijan in October to observe the actual voting.

(*) Mr Andres Herkel, Head of Delegation, Estonia, Group of the European People’s party, (EPP/CD), Mr Indrek Saar, Estonia, Socialist Group (SOC), Mr Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Turkey, European Democrat Group (EDG), Mr Paul Wille, Belgium, Alliance of liberals and democrats for Europe (ALDE), Mr Hakki Keskin, Germany, Group of the Unified European Left (UEL).