POLITICS
MARIE BEGUIN: MEPS HAD OVERALL POSITIVE IMPRESSION OF THE VOTING DAY
Ms. Marie Beguin made a statement on behalf of the delegation of the European Parliament on the parliamentary elections Azerbaijan.
The statement in particular says: MEPs only came to observe the election day. Therefore their evaluation was in the role of short term observers. In spite of reports from elsewhere, about the pre-election and election campaign which pointed out a whole set of problems, shortcomings and deficiencies, particular concerns were also raised about the refusal by the Azerbaijani authorities to allow the opposition forces to hold rallies where requested. Nevertheless, MEPs had overall positive impression of the voting day.
No major problems were reported in the polling stations where the conduct took place in an in a calm atmosphere. Even the finger-inking proved to be an effective tool though sometimes inaccurate controls were noted.