AZERBAIJAN ELECTION MONITOR GIVES HARSH APPRAISAL
By Sabrina Tavernise

New York Times
October 16, 2008
United States

BAKU, Azerbaijan — A European election observer gave a stinging
assessment on Thursday of this country’s presidential elections,
provoking an angry response from local journalists and officials,
who said Europe had applied double standards.

Azerbaijan held presidential elections on Wednesday, in which the
incumbent, Ilham Aliyev, won more than 88 percent of the vote. The
opposition boycotted, claiming the government had twisted the rules
so much that fair competition was impossible.

In sharp language that appeared to come as a surprise to the large
group of journalists and officials assembled at a news conference
here in the capital, Andres Herkel, the head of the Council of Europe
parliamentary delegation, said that the election was "a very good
swimming exercise, but unfortunately, it’s an empty pool."

"In spite of improvements, there are certain things to be said about
the general atmosphere, which did not reflect principles of democratic
elections," he said.

Mr. Herkel offered the sharpest criticism of the election that the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a monitoring group
that also sent observers , said had "marked considerable progress,
but did not meet all commitments."

His remarks set off an angry series of questions, mostly from Azeri
journalists, who were upset about what they considered to be a double
standard applied to Azerbaijan, compared with its northern neighbor,
Armenia, with whom it fought a war in the early 1990’s. In the Azeri
view, Armenia gets more favorable treatment by the west.

"Outrageous," a man shouted from the audience. "Your personal views
are outrageous. There is no need to tell them in the press conference."

Azerbaijan feels it was victimized in a small but brutal conflict in
which Armenians on Azeri territory rose up at the end of the Soviet
Union, demanding unification with Armenia. Both sides participated in
ethnic cleansing, but the Armenians — with Russian help — eventually
prevailed in the territory, known as Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia had a contested presidential election earlier this year
in which authorities killed a number of people as they dispersed
a crowd of demonstrators. The Europeans’ initial evaluation was
largely positive, which fueled suspicions on Wednesday that a double
standard was being applied, but their report issued later was much
more critical.

The European observers sought to reassure the audience that they
were not comparing Azerbaijan’s election with any other country’s,
and emphasized that the election here had been a step forward in a
number of respects.

"The election marks considerable progress towards meeting OSCE and
Council of Europe commitments," said Boris Frlec, head of the OSCE’s
observing mission, "but doesn’t meet all commitments."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress