NEW BREATH

It was clear from the beginning that competition during the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan would be fierce. First, large-scale administrative and structural reforms initiated by President Ilham Aliyev immediately after the extraordinary presidential elections in 2018 increased the socio-political activity in the country. Secondly, the main reason for the dissolution of parliament at the end of last year was announced as a need to rejuvenate all branches of government. Hence the unprecedented inflow of young and ambitious people to constituencies.

As soon as the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan started the registration of candidates, it received as many as 2,431 appeals — an unprecedented event in the history of elections in Azerbaijan. However, only 1,637 of applicants could meet the requirements of the electoral law and register as candidates. In total, 1,314 nominees run for membership in the parliament. But this is also a record indicator, since an average of 11 people struggled for each mandate in the 125-seat parliament.

According to the CEC chairman, Mazahir Panahov, 1,038 men and 276 women took part in the elections as candidates. This ratio is 5-6% more than in previous elections. At the same time, 246 candidates were nominated by respective parties.

Candidates used both traditional methods of campaigning, in particular direct meetings with local voters, and modern PR technologies during the campaign. There was a large number of ambitious and creative young candidates who had studied abroad and were well experienced in using the potential of social networks. So, pre-election battles were going on both the real field and the virtual space.

No surprises

Elections were held on February 9. Despite cold weather, the elections saw more than 2.5 million voters (47.8%). As expected, the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (Yeni Azərbaycan Partiyası) could retain the parliamentary majority again having won in 72 constituencies. Other political forces and independent candidates shared the remaining seats. Official voting results were also confirmed by exit polls conducted by AJf & Associates Inc. (U.S.), Opinion Way Sociological Research Institute (France) and Rəy Monitoring Centre (Azerbaijan).

Election results came as no surprise. The victory of the ruling party was predetermined by the total renewal of the country, cardinal decisions to improve the social welfare and to rejuvenate the list of candidates from the power. Among other reasons were the fragmentation and low electoral support of the traditional opposition.

Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were closely monitored by international experts, including 883 observers from 59 international organisations and 58 countries accredited by CEC (Azerbaijan). About 200 representatives of 132 international media outlets from 47 countries covered the parliamentary elections in the country, with almost 78,000 local observers from political parties and public organisations.

At the same time, the overwhelming majority of observers, including those from the CIS countries, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and other international bodies, deputies from European countries assessed the elections as a significant step in terms of ensuring democratic reforms. Statements and reports indicate that the elections were held in accordance with Azerbaijani law and democratic principles, as well as under the conditions of serious competition and transparency.

European observers: beyond double standards

MPs from several European countries (Italy, Germany, France, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece), as well as the representatives of non-governmental organisations and experts also released a report on the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. The report notes that the elections were held in accordance with the Electoral Code of Azerbaijan and democratic norms adopted in the world. "The elections were transparent and voters expressed their will," the document says.

The report presents the conclusions of Italian deputies Osvaldo Napolini, Ettore Licheri and expert Angela Crovetti; German deputies Ulrich Singer, Uli Henkel; French deputy Jean-Lodge Reitzer, expert Gregorie Julien; Bulgarian deputies Rumen Gechevin, Manol Genov, Anton Kutev; Polish deputy Katerina Weberchany and expert Janusz Niedzwiecki; Czech deputies Vera Prochazkova, Yaroslav Doubrava, expert Rania Yunisova; Greek deputies Lazaros Tsavdaridis, Katerina Monogiou and Stella Biziou. They were in Azerbaijan from February 7 to 10 to monitor the election process.

The monitoring mission noted some drawbacks but, according to the report, they did not influence the overall voting process. Members of the mission also observed the closure of polling stations, counting of votes and compilation of final protocols.

Russian mission: objective look

The observer mission of the Institute for International Relations Сотрудничество shared a similar opinion. Delegation included the deputies of the State Duma Alexei Zhuravlev, Sergei Marinin, Yelena Strokova, Boris Chernyshov, Maxim Ivanov, experts Lyudmila Kozlova, Oleg Kuznetsov, Yevgeny Kondrakhin, Yelena Bryzgalina, Valery Fedorov, Sergei Voronin, Yelena Marinina, Sergei Markov, Daria Grevtsova, Ramin Gasymov, Alexey Bychkov.

In the final statement, the mission noted that the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were fair, free and transparent and were held in accordance with applicable laws. "Ballot boxes were transparent enough to determine how full they were. As far as we know, webcams have been installed in about a thousand polling stations. Each voter voted in person and alone. Ballots were completed inside the booths, where no one had the right to enter and had special technical means for secret voting. Members of precinct election commissions and observers worked without any obstacles or pressure. During the observations at various polling stations, there were no attempts to influence the voters or violate the secrecy of the voting. There were a few sporadic gaps and drawbacks, which did not influence the voting process and the free choice of voters," the report says.

Israeli assessment: transparent and democratic

Israeli observers praised the election process in Azerbaijan. According to information agency Trend, one of the observers from Israel, Roman Gurevich, noted that the elections were transparent and democratic.

Gurevich said that the Israeli mission arrived to Baku a few days before the election. He mentioned that the city had changed incredibly in recent years. According to observations at six polling stations, young people took an active part. "This is a very positive fact. During the process, everyone was busy with their work and there were no violations," Gurevich said.

Another observer, Boris Grosman, said that Azerbaijan no longer needs international observers. "I think that you can already participate in other countries as observers. In such a weather, even the elders came to vote together with their grandchildren. Voters participated with great enthusiasm," Grosman said.

Contrary to all

Only the joint observer mission from OSCE ODIHR, PACE and OSCE PA decided to remain committed to their long-standing tradition of criticising the election results regardless the opinion of all other observers. "We cannot say anything about the election process yet. Final results will be announced tomorrow (February 10, R+). I can only say that our delegation did not face pressure, and we are provided with all the necessary conditions for proper monitoring," Ukrainian MP and the coordinator of the OSCE short-term observer mission, Artur Gerasimov, said on the election day. However, during the press conference of the joint mission of OSCE ODIHR, PACE and OSCE PA, Gerasimov stated that "restrictive legislation and political environment prevented real competition in the early parliamentary elections." It sounds strange, as it turns out that the local authorities " prevented real competition", on the one hand, while providing 358 OSCE observers with "all the necessary conditions for proper monitoring" of election.

"We tried to hold the elections as transparent as possible. That is why we have also invited observers, who would not conduct an objective assessment of the election process, as we expected. Nevertheless, we believe that we have nothing to hide," President Ilham Aliyev said during the meeting with a delegation led by the head of the observation mission of the CIS Executive Committee, chairman of the State Duma Committee Leonid Kalashnikov.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan also disagreed with some of the conclusions of observers. At the same time, the statement of the Foreign Ministry notes that Azerbaijan will take into account a number of comments from the international observation mission of the OSCE, PACE and ODIHR.

"Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs reviewed the preliminary conclusion of the ODIHR, OSCE and PACE observation missions. Although we do not agree with a number of facts indicated as violations and shortcomings, we will take them into account, as the comments concern organisational and procedural issues," the ministry's statement says.

International recognition

Either way, the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were recognised as valid. As expected, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the first leader who sent a congratulatory message on this occasion. He was followed by congratulatory messages from the presidents of Russia, Serbia and Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Other foreign policy partners of Baku, including the European Union, also expressed readiness to cooperate with the new parliament (Milli Majlis) of Azerbaijan. "European Union expects to continue cooperation with Azerbaijani institutions, including the new parliament," the official representative of the European External Action Service (EEAS) said.

In this regard, Russian political scientist Sergei Markedonov made a remarkable statement: "Foreign policy factor plays an instrumental role in internal processes in any of the post-Soviet states. But Azerbaijan is more likely an exception. Russia, the U.S., European Union, Iran and Turkey show a growing interest in cooperating with the politically stable secular authorities of Azerbaijan either individually or together. For the Kremlin, it's important that Azerbaijan remains immune to infamous 'colour revolutions', while being committed to the fight against the common enemy—radical jihadists. For the West, Azerbaijan is a reliable energy partner," S.Markedonov wrote in his article Обновленный Азербайджан published in Kommersant.

Anyway, the people of Azerbaijan has reached another milestone in renovating the country—a process, which originated after the 2018 early presidential elections. Now, when the legislative body is restarted, it is possible to continue reforms with greater intensity and effectiveness.

INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS ON ELECTIONS TO MILLI MEJLIS 

“I have observed elections in many countries of the world, including Europe. Elections in Azerbaijan are well organised legally and technically. I have not recorded any violations. The representative of the opposition party also admitted the absence of any violations. This is an indicator of transparency,” Janusz Niedzwiechki, President of the European Council for Democracy and Human Rights.

“The vote was held in completely democratic conditions. People at the polling stations also did not express any complaints about the voting process,” Vera Prochazkova, Czech parliamentarian.

“We see that a large group of well-trained specialists is involved in the organisation. Nothing prevents voters from entering the booths to make their choice based on personal preferences,” Jean-Luc Reitzer, French parliamentarian, Vice President of the France-Azerbaijan Friendship Group.

“I am very surprised at how transparent the process was organised. There were many observers. This shows that the government wants to demonstrate transparency, and it has nothing to hide,” Uli Henkel, German parliamentarian. 

“I have rarely seen this at polling stations, even in Russia. Observers from various parties and even citizens go through registration themselves,” Alexey Zhuravlev, State Duma of Russia.

“Everything is organised as expected. I compare with the elections held in Bulgaria, Russia, the USA. It seems that the organiaation is very good, people vote calmly,” Rumen Gechev, Member of the Bulgarian Parliament.

“We visited several polling stations, talked with voters, independent observers and observers representing political parties. All this shows that the process is going on democratically,” Romy de San Quéran, international observer for France.

“We have already visited several polling stations. Everywhere we had a chance to freely observe the voting process. There were no violations, everything went according to the rules,” Ulrich Singer, German parliamentarian.

“The voter turnout in Baku is not very high yet; in a 3 million city, it is difficult to expect a high turnout. On the other hand, this is a good symptom, which means that there is no administrative vote, there is no kind of compulsory drive,” Valery Fedorov, Director General of the All-Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion.