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Needs Assessment Mission recommends OSCE to send observation mission to parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan - REPORT

26 December 2019 15:45 (UTC +04:00)

OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has prepared a report regarding pre-election environment and the preparations for the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan scheduled on February 9, 2019, APA reports.

The report has been prepared by the ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission.

According to the report, following an invitation from the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan to observe the 9 February 2020 early parliamentary elections, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) from 19 to 21 December 2019. The NAM included Alexey Gromov, ODIHR Senior Election Adviser, and Radivoje Grujić, ODIHR Election Adviser. The ODIHR NAM was joined by Tim Knoblau, Programme and Administrative Officer of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and the preparations for the elections.

It was stated in the report that meetings were held with officials from state institutions and the election administration, as well as representatives of political parties, media, civil society and the international community.

“Based on the findings of this report, and despite some issues with regard to the respect of fundamental freedoms, the ODIHR NAM recommends the deployment of an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for the upcoming early parliamentary elections. In addition to a core team of experts, the ODIHR NAM recommends the secondment by OSCE participating States of 30 long-term observers to follow the electoral process countrywide, as well as 350 short-term observers for the observation of election day procedures," the report reads.