THERE IS NOT A HINT OF ELECTIONS IN AZERBAIJAN

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2008-10-13 10:12
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

NKR NA Standing Committee Chairman on state and legal issues Garik
Grigoryan’s commentary on the pre-election situation in Azerbaijan
"The characteristic feature of democratic election is, first of all,
healthy competition between the authorities and the opposition.

Pre-election process in Azerbaijan passes quite the contrary. There
are enough presidential aspirants; however, all of them, except for
the incumbent president, play the role of passive observers. And it is
no accidental that interest towards the elections both in political
and in wide public circles is insignificant, and it is obvious that
the elections will be uninteresting and predictable. Everything is so
predetermined that, in fact, it is useless to vote. It is no wonder
that the majority of the respondents in the capital of Azerbaijan
cannot call the names of all the presidential candidates.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
on observation of presidential election in Azerbaijan reports about
limited public interest towards the elections. The ODIHR observers
connect it with a perceived lack of genuine competition. The document,
in particular, reads that the president has been touring the country
extensively in his official capacity and it is difficult to distinguish
between his regular act ivities and his campaign. At that, it is
particularly emphasized that the Baku municipal authorities interpreted
provisions of the "Law on Freedom of Assembly" in a restrictive manner
when they refused the request of opposition parties boycotting the
election to be allocated a venue for an outdoor meeting in central
Baku. EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby
also stated the fact that there was not a hint of elections in
Azerbaijan.

At the same time, many international organizations prefer to observe
how constitutional rights are being violated and democratic freedoms
are suppressed in Azerbaijan. Implementing a policy of "double
standards" the West considering itself a defender of human rights and
freedoms, voluntarily or not, furthers this country’s moving far away
from the pan-European standards. It produces an impression that the
West is ready to waive "the democratic principles" in favour of their
mercenary interests in Azerbaijan, and the election processes became
for them only an instrument of influence and fractional currency in
political game".