OSCE Office hosts meeting on election administration in Azerbaijan

BAKU, 18 May 2010 - Representatives from Azerbaijan's 17 political parties and other stakeholders discussed election administration matters during a meeting organized and chaired today by the OSCE Office in Baku as a follow-up to recommendations from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The meeting, the second of its kind, focuses on election administration issues, including the composition of election commissions, fair registration of candidates and effective processing of election complaints. Azerbaijan will hold parliamentary elections in November.

"The OSCE supports Azerbaijan's efforts to improve the electoral framework in the run-up to the November elections," said Ambassador Bilge Cankorel, the Head of the OSCE Office in Baku.

He stressed that an inclusive candidate registration process is a precondition for a broad participation of all political parties in the elections.

Cankorel also recalled that ODIHR in its final report on the 2008 presidential election recommended that election commissions be reconfigured in a manner that would ensure public confidence, including confidence of those running for office.

Representatives from the Presidential Administration, the Central Election Commission, civil society and the international community also took part in the roundtable discussion.

The previous election meeting organized by the OSCE Office focused on matters related to the election campaign, in particular the implementation of the Law on Freedom of Assembly and illegal interference in the election process. A third meeting, scheduled for June 2010, will be dedicated to the role of media in elections.