Azerbaijan: Presidential Election

Ahead of the 15 October presidential election in Azerbaijan, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has welcomed Baku’s undertaking to conduct the vote “as close to international standards as possible.” Of course, few expect that to be the case, but such declarative statements are part of the process and are always made regardless of whether they’re any intention to do or not.

“The 15 October election presents an important opportunity for Azerbaijan to demonstrate its commitment to the democratic reform process,” he said at the end of a two-day visit to the country.

Talvitie called on all stakeholders to strengthen public confidence in the election process, including by ensuring equal access to media for all candidates and respecting the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

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Azerbaijani authorities assured Talvitie that an invitation for an OSCE Election Observation Mission would be forthcoming. The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, in anticipation of such an invitation, recently requested OSCE participating States to second 30 long-term observers to be deployed to Azerbaijan at the beginning of September. In addition, 450 short-term observers will be deployed for election day observation.