Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Western Officials Say Free, Fair Elections Vital For Azerbaijan

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Western Officials Say Free, Fair Elections Vital For Azerbaijan

    WESTERN OFFICIALS SAY FREE, FAIR ELECTIONS VITAL FOR AZERBAIJAN
    By Aida Sultanova

    The Associated Press
    09/05/05 13:24 EDT

    BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - Top Western human rights and democracy
    officials warned the authorities in Azerbaijan on Monday to ensure
    free and fair parliamentary elections in November, saying they were
    vital for the oil-rich Caspian state's democratic development.

    Terry Davis, the secretary general of the Council of Europe rights
    body, said the Nov. 6 vote must be "held in full respect of European
    and international standards," and that President Ilham Aliev's May
    directive to ensure free balloting reflected his commitment to a
    democratic future for his former Soviet nation.

    Davis said the legal basis for the vote still needs improvement,
    but added that "even with the weak legal basis it will be possible
    to have free and fair elections."

    Dimitrij Rupel, chair of the trans-Atlantic security and democracy
    body, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, voiced
    similar optimism.

    "There are still open questions regarding the electoral commission,
    about the electoral lists, the voters' lists, but I think that they
    will be accommodated," Rupel said. "I am aware that there are still
    some differences between what the agencies have proposed and the
    reality on the ground, but there's still time."

    Opposition leader Isa Gambar said he saw no reason for the Western
    officials' high hopes, given past allegations of election fraud.

    "Nothing has changed in the Central Election Commission itself,"
    he said. "What is that optimism based on?"

    Azerbaijan's former president, Ayaz Mutalibov, who lives in
    self-imposed exile in Russia, registered on Monday as an opposition
    candidate for the parliamentary elections, a member of his party said.

    However, Mutalibov, who was the country's first post-Soviet president,
    will not return home until he receives security guarantees, said Araz
    Alizade of the Social-Democratic Party of Azerbaijan.

    Prosecutors have warned the former president faces arrest if he comes
    to Azerbaijan. Mutalibov faces criminal charges of negligence and
    plotting to overthrow the government - charges he says are groundless.

    Mutalibov was deposed in 1992 amid economic turmoil and losses in
    a war with neighboring Armenia. Authorities have accused him of
    orchestrating coup attempts in 1995 and 1997.

    Azerbaijan has been tense ahead of the vote. Opposition parties have
    rallied almost weekly amid fears that Aliev's government could try
    to rig the election.

    Azerbaijan's October 2003 presidential election, in which Aliev
    succeeded his ailing and long-ruling father who died after the vote,
    was widely alleged to have been fraudulent and the outcome triggered
    violent clashes between police and demonstrators.

    "It's very important for these elections ... to be better than previous
    elections," Davis said.
Working...
X