The First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council coordinated the IPA CIS international observer mission to the early parliamentary election in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrey Yatskin attended the early elections to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan held on 1 September as the coordinator of the group of international observers from the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The group included parliamentarians from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, representatives of IPA CIS and experts from the IPA CIS International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development (IPA CIS IIMDD).
Senators of the Russian Federation Alexander Zhukov, Natalia Kosykhina, Alexander Terentyev, Iliyas Umakhanov and Anatoly Shirokov, who represented the monitoring missions of the IPA CIS, the SCO, as well as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, participated in the election observation.
The day before the voting, members of the IPA CIS mission visited district election commissions and polling stations in Hajigabul, Nakhichevan, Salyan and Shirvan. They met with the leadership of several political parties in Azerbaijan, and praised the work accomplished by the Central Election Commission to prepare for the parliamentary election.
Andrey Yatskin and IPA CIS Secretary General Dmitry Kobitsky met with Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Samir Sharifov. They reaffirmed their commitment to carrying out their observation mission with impartiality and objectivity as well as respect for state sovereignty of Azerbaijan.
During his talks with Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan Farhad Abdullayev and Head of the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan Mazahir Panakhov, the First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council praised the excellent organisation of the elections and the polling stations’ operation. “This is evident both from visual materials and from speaking with observers from political organisations monitoring the election,” Andrey Yatskin said.
International observers visited as many as 145 polling stations and attended various stages of the voting, from the opening of the polls to the counting of votes by district election commissions. They noted the high level of training of election commission members, the efficiency of the voting process, as well as the video surveillance and document verification systems.
At the final news conference held in Baku and dedicated to the results of the parliamentary elections, Andrey Yatskin stressed that the elections to the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, the voting across the country was held with due respect for the rights and freedoms of all participants in the electoral process. “Everything was in line with the universally recognised democratic principles and norms for setting up and holding free and fair elections enshrined in the country’s constitution and election laws. The campaign involved strong competition among the parties. An enabling environment was created for the observers to carry out their mission,” the First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council said.