Azernews.Az

BAKU – The US State Department’s statement assessing Azerbaijan’s parliamentary elections held on Sunday included "certain subjective conclusions", an Azerbaijani presidential aide has said.

"We are openly saying that we are surprised and disappointed with the State Department’s statement," Ali Hasanov, head of the Azerbaijan Presidential Administration socio-political department, told journalists Wednesday.

The State Department’s statement said the elections did not comply with democratic standards and called to hold accountable those responsible for alleged electoral fraud.

Hasanov said the statement considerably differs from the assessments issued by most international organizations.

"The Azerbaijani government is particularly surprised by the assertion that ‘the election was not conducted in line with international norms."

Hasanov said Azerbaijan’s authorities assess the parliamentary election as a democratic and transparent vote.

"Most observers from the OSCE, PACE and the European Parliament have termed these elections as transparent and fair, and stated that voting on election day was assessed positively in 90 percent of the polling stations, while certain problems were noted in 10 percent. We consider this natural. We believe that in comparison with previous elections, this election proceeded in a more progressive environment. All interested parties, public organizations and independent candidates participated. The election proceeded in the conditions of broad debating, and all parties enjoyed equal conditions during the campaign period."

The US State Department’s statement had said that Azerbaijan’s elections "were peaceful, with the participation of all opposition parties and observers from domestic groups and the international community", but "did not meet international standards".

"We support the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) mission’s preliminary assessment that ‘the conduct of these elections overall was not sufficient to constitute meaningful progress in the democratic development of the country," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Monday while releasing the US government’s statement.

The State Department said some technical aspects of the election, including centralized registration and the inclusion of record numbers of domestic observers, constituted improvements, as did a modest increase in the percentage of female candidates. However, there were serious problems noted during the pre-election process and on election day, it said.

"We share concerns by the OSCE/ODIHR Observer Mission that the pre-election environment was characterized by a lack of balanced media coverage of candidates, continued restrictions on fundamental freedoms of assembly and expression, and a deficient candidate registration process that, taken together, resulted in an uneven playing field for candidates. On election day, observers from the U.S. Embassy in Baku, like their OSCE/ODIHR counterparts, noted serious violations of election procedures, including ballot box stuffing."

The US government called upon the Azerbaijani government to focus on adjudicating election grievances fairly, transparently, and expeditiously, ensuring accountability for officials who are suspected of interfering with the proper conduct of elections. "We further urge the Azerbaijani government to respect freedom of expression, assembly, and association."

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has responded by saying that while assessing elections in any given country, the US State Department as a rule issues an assessment that does not drastically differ from the feedback of influential international organizations.

"That statement refers to the conclusions made by the election observation missions of OSCE/ODIHR, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, PACE, and the European Parliament. However, the document being referenced does not contain the conclusion made by the State Department," the Foreign Ministry said.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met Janez Lenarcic, director of the OSCE/ODIHR to discuss the elections.

The ministry press service said Mammadyarov told Lenarcic the monitors' joint statement comprised several contradictory statements.

"It is controversial that OSCE/ODIHR positively evaluates the voting process in 90 percent of constituencies, but also points out serious violations in the elections process."

The press service did not disclose Lenarcic's response.

The ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party (YAP) has gained a majority in the legislature.

Sunday’s elections were observed by 316 monitors from OSCE/ODIHR, 58 members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and 33 observers from PACE.