Baku, October 11 (AZERTAC). Deputy Head of Azerbaijan`s Presidential Administration, head of the foreign relations department Novruz Mammadov has commented on statements by OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the U.S. Department of State concerning the presidential election in the country. AZERTAC presents the full text of Mr Mammadov`s remarks:

-Mr. Mammadov, what can you say about the reports of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the United States, which are almost similar in nature?

-Position of the U.S. Department of State on the presidential election held in Azerbaijan on October 9 is in contrast with justice and doesn`t reflect the reality. It shows that the ODIHR along with the U.S. consider democracy and issues of human rights as their monopoly, using it according in their own interests.

But now it`s clear that making democracy and the issues of human rights a tool of pressure doesn`t produce good results. There are tens of instances on the international scene. The Azerbaijani presidential election does not fall behind elections in other countries, and is even better in terms of many parameters. Given that the USA and OSCE ODIHR have made subjective judgments of the elections in several other countries, which were marred by serious violations and irregularities, their biased position causes surprise. Those who consider democracy an important value must themselves set an example to others by acting in line with democratic principles.

Interestingly about 1500 observers from 98 countries and 48 international organizations, including the PACE, European Parliament, the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), TurkPA election observation mission, as well as the majority of independent foreign observers made positive remarks on the election. But for some reason this issue is not featured in the statement of the U.S. Department of State, whose unequivocal critical statement stands in total contrast to views of ordinary people-elected U.S. congressmen, senators and representatives of other elective bodies, who hailed the election process in Azerbaijan as fair and transparent.

The Azerbaijani people expressed their will in the election. This was fully confirmed by the results of exit polls conducted by international monitoring missions, experts, US and European organizations before and after the election. The statements by the ODIHR and the U.S. are disrespect to the voters` wills and rights. Suffice it to mention that the results of the monitoring by head of the OSCE short-term observation mission Michel Voisin are not featured in the ODIHR statement, which testifies to prejudice. It`s nothing but full violation of the principles of democracy.

On the other hand, it was defined that most of the observers in the ODIHT mission were inexperienced in this field. Unlike ODIHR, the observation missions PACE, OSCE PA and BSEC consisted of experienced experts. This means that it was a deliberate move. Including people, who are unaware of the electoral process and incapable of judging how the election took place, is an attempt aimed at ensuring that their opinion, which was formed beforehand, will be included in the final report. The OSCE and the United States, often speaking of the obligations of various countries to them, must not forget that they themselves have obligations to Azerbaijan. But they have never taken any step towards fulfilling their obligations. Unfortunately, such position calls reasonableness of involving the OSCE in future election processes into question.