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By Trend

The observation mission of representatives of the US public expressed extreme satisfaction with the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

At a press conference dedicated to the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, observers from the US public noted high political activity of the population, serious preparations for the elections observed by the mission at different polling stations in Baku, and in general, expressed satisfaction with the country.

The observer of the mission of representatives of the US public from New York, Coordinator of the Congress of Bukharian Jews in the US and Canada Rafael Nektal said that it is his third time in Azerbaijan and he is very happy to participate as an international observer in the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.

Among the positive aspects, Nektal first of all noted the high voter turnout.

“It was very cold in Azerbaijan’s Guba district, where I was, however, many people managed to come and vote,” he said.

In turn, an observer from San Diego Martin Kruming said that this is his fifth visit to Azerbaijan, and he is also pleased to be present at the elections.

“People came to vote and then stayed for a while at the polling stations, and this is very interesting,” Kruming noted. “People here consider this a common thing, but such activity in the US, for example, isn’t observed - our people come, vote and immediately leave. Besides, I personally spoke with local observers, and there was a case where they even gave us tea in one of the polling stations. You won’t see this in the US for sure.”

Another observer from Los Angeles, entrepreneur Mitch Silberman, in turn, noted that the dialogue with Azerbaijani residents also showed that the population is very patriotic, which brings the US and Azerbaijani people together. The observer said that it is his first time in Azerbaijan.

The main factors noted by Silberman in the election process are the representation of young people in the lists of candidates and the observance of the rules at polling stations.

The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent – male candidates.

Throughout the day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country. There were 5,329,461 registered voters.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

Exit polls were conducted by AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French OpinionWay Research Institute together with the “Human Rights in the XXI Century – Azerbaijan” Foundation.

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