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Vugar Ahmadov: ODIHR report on presidential election in Azerbaijan â€˜pre-preparedâ€™

13 April 2018 13:11 (UTC +04:00)

Vugar Ahmadov, assistant to the election observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) for political affairs, has announced his resignation from the post.

At a press conference on April 13, Ahmadov accused the ODIHR of expressing a biased attitude towards the April 11 presidential election in Azerbaijan.

Ahmadov said that Stefan Krause, deputy head of the ODIHR observation mission, took an active role in preparing the report and he had a negative attitude towards Azerbaijan.

“Stefan Krause congratulated his colleagues in connection with the election held in Armenia on April 2, 2017. He did not hide his negative attitude to Azerbaijan’s national leader Heydar Aliyev and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation on his pages on social networks. They say in their reports that they held meetings with the country's officials, but there was no free media or competitive election environment in the country. A spokesperson for the ODIHR observation mission did not conceal his negative attitude towards Azerbaijan. The OSCE observers were here on special order,” he said.

Ahmadov emphasized that the report on the presidential election in Azerbaijan is pre-prepared.

“Khadija Ismayil and Emil Milli were in close contact with members of the ODIHR observation mission. The report alleges that serious law violations were committed during the voting. On the election day, I was in the office. No serious law violations were recorded at polling stations. Only minor points were recorded that could not affect the election results. This report is not even a critic, but a bias, denigration. I could not accept this, so I officially addressed the head of the observation mission and left it. Members of the observation mission came under the influence of those who are known for their anti-Azerbaijani stance and serve the interests of Armenian circles,” he said.

He went on to say that he will express his official protest to OSCE’s general office.

Ahmadov expressed hope that a final report by the ODIHR observation mission will contain certain positive aspects.