Presidential Election, 11 October 1998

Upon receipt of an official invitation from Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister to observe the 11 October presidential election, ODIHR sent a needs assessment mission to Baku between 31 July and 4 August 1998.

ODIHR established an election observation mission in Baku on 11 September 1998 that was headed by Nikolai Vulchanov of Bulgaria and included a six-person core team based in Baku and 11 long-term observers deployed throughout the country.

On election day, the mission deployed 148 observers in all administrative regions of Azerbaijan to observe the voting, counting and aggregation procedures. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe joined the mission to follow the election-day procedures. 

According to the mission's final report: "Clear political will was demonstrated by the authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan to significantly improve on the election practice of the country. The efforts in this direction were initiated in the late spring of 1998 by a review of the election legislation to put it in line with OSCE commitments, by the formal abolishment of censorship in August 1998 and by the final approval of the new Citizenship Law in late September 1998. In this way the authorities responded positively to concerns raised by the international community and indicated their willingness to meet international standards in the conduct of the election process."