Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The observations conducted so far show that the Azerbaijani presidential election is being held in a democratic and transparent atmosphere, a member of the observation mission, German MP Ermin Walter Nadler said on October 9.

Nadler and another German MP, Heinz Josef Donhauser, are conducting observation at the polling station No.26 in Nasimi-Sabail constituency No.23.

Nadler said they had visited several polling stations, and the observations conducted show that the election is being held in a democratic and transparent atmosphere, adding that not a single negative instance had been recorded until now.

According to the head of the OSCE PA mission, German MP Doris Barnett, the electoral process in Azerbaijan resembles the German one.

"We are very pleased with the process of organizing the election," Barnett said. "Voters are actively involved in the election and we are very pleased that people are exercising their right to vote."

Jacek Wlosowicz, a European Parliament member from Poland, said the voting activity in Azerbaijan is much higher than in EU countries.

"I worked in many election observation missions all over the world. Having extensive experience, I can say that Azerbaijan has organized the election very well," he said.

Observers from numerous countries are at the polling stations, Wlosowicz said.

Bulgarian representative Slavi Binev also noted very high activity observed during the election.

The coordinator of the international observers' group from the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly (IPA), Leonid Slutsky, believes the work of the election commissions at the election meets the highest standards.

"There are many interesting know-how in this campaign compared even to the previous Azerbaijani presidential election and parliamentary elections. Azerbaijan's CEC has been working on improving the election system. Of course, this contributes to ensuring free expression of will and a sense of solemnity of this day," Slutsky said.

The international observers from CIS IPA worked at different polling stations since morning and observed the voting process.

"Today we participated in the opening of four polling stations, watched how the ballot boxes were sealed and ballot papers were prepared. We also talked to observers from various political parties," he said.

The head of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization observation group for the Azerbaijani elections, Ismail Safi, said the voting process has been organized at a sufficiently high level at the capital city's polling stations.

According to Safi, the delegation he heads visited three polling stations in the first half of the day.

"The voting process in all the three polling stations was organized at a high level and it can be seen at a glance. The members of the ruling party as well as opposition parties and independent observers are observing the voting process. We became familiarized with their opinions...All of them highly assess the voting process. My colleagues from Bulgaria and Greece share the same view," Safi said.

French observers noted a high voter turnout during the election in the regions of the country.

The French Senate delegation of observers monitors the election with five senators in Guba and six mayors of French cities in Naftalan.

A member of the French delegation in the Guba region said that about 40 percent of the voters cast their ballots in the region to date, which is a good indicator.

According to the head of the observation mission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Habib Kaabachi, the preparations for the presidential election were at a high level in Azerbaijan.

"We have already visited several polling stations," he said. "I can say on the basis of the observations that the elections have been organized at a high level."

According to Kaabachi, this testifies to democracy and good governance. He also said that they are observing very high youth voter turnout.

Immanuel Robert Inkirivang, an observer from Indonesia, said all the processes related to the presidential elections in Azerbaijan are at a high level.

Inkirivang, who is in Azerbaijan for the first time and visited the Khatai polling station, highly assessed the situation and noted high voter turnout.

"In the morning there were few people. However... the number of voters began to grow. About 300-400 voters arrived. In technical terms, it was at a high level. Generally, I can say that the elections are held successfully, the staff were very friendly," the observer said.

The chairman of Moldova's Central Election Commission Iurie Ciocan, who is in Azerbaijan to observe the elections, said everything is prepared at a high level for the election of the Azerbaijani president. Ciocan said the elections are being held in a normal mode. He said logistics at all polling stations was good, and also emphasized the installed web cameras at many polling stations in Baku and outside the capital.