Baku, April 16, AZERTAC

“The presidential election in Azerbaijan was held based on democratic values and norms. Everyone eye witnessed that there was high turnout in the election,” said Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) Ali Ahmadov as he commented on the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights’ (ODIHR) preliminary statement on the April 11 election. He described the statement as biased, saying it is full of contradictions.

According to YAP Deputy Chairman Ali Ahmadov, the re-election of the candidate of the New Azerbaijan Party, incumbent President Ilham Aliyev as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan should be regarded as a result of the people's high appreciation of his activities in previous years.

“On the other hand, the New Azerbaijan Party has excellently organized the election campaign of Ilham Aliyev, holding hundreds of meetings and raising the voters’ awareness on his election program. As an authorized representative of President Ilham Aliyev and executive secretary of the New Azerbaijan Party, I can confirm that both the election campaign and the entire election process were fair and fully transparent in line with democratic norms,” he said.

“The OSCE ODIHR smears the presidential election in Azerbaijan. Against a background of all this, a sharply different view of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights evokes surprise and regret. It turns out that the OSCE ODIHR cannot escape double standards, and slanders the presidential election although it was highly appreciated by all, including the international observers," Ali Ahmadov added.