By Skylar Yoder
The organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe held a press conference yesterday on their election observation mission’s report of the 7 February presidential election in Azerbaijan. Key findings concluded that the “election took place in a restrictive environment… marked by the stifling of critical voices and the absence of political alternatives.”
The observation mission highlighted “issues of secrecy of the vote, a lack of safeguards against multiple voting, indications of ballot box stuffing, and seemingly identical signatures on the voter lists,” raising questions about the legitimacy of the election.
A total of 335 observers from the joint mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE (OSCE PA) were depoloyed across Azerbaijan starting in late December to montior the entire electoral process.
Eoghan Murphy, Head of the ODIHR election observation mission, stated that its purpose was to be independent and impartial, reporting only what they had observed first-hand whether it was good or bad. He explained that Azerbaijan’s membership in the OSCE obliges it to allow election observers throughout the process to make their assessment and inform the public, as well as make recommendations for reforms based on their report.
However, one OSCE observer and member of the Swiss Parliament, Nik Gugger, was refused entry into the country, likely because of his history speaking out against the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan also prevented the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which usually works in tandem with the OSCE, from monitoring the election. This development was one of the reasons cited in PACE’s late-January resolution against the Azerbaijani delegation, which led to a vote to disqualify them from membership in the organization entirely.
The most positive aspect of the election, according to members of the OSCE, was that this marked the first time in Republic of Azerbaijan’s history that elections were held in the entirety of its internationally recognized territories. During the press conference, Special Co-ordinator and leader of the OSCE short-term observers Artur Gerasymov, went so far as to congratulate Azerbaijan on the retaking of Nagorno-Karabakh. He explained that observers were present in the region to observe preparations for voting precincts and voter registration prior to election day. Due to conflicting regulations, the OSCE EOM was unable to have observers on the ground in the region while voting was actually taking place.
In response to CivilNet’s inquiry regarding how OSCE members can positively highlight the preparations for elections in Nagorno-Karabakh when the region was entirely depopulated of its ethnic Armenians, who formed all of the population in the region, Gerasymov stated:
“The security situation does not allow our observers to freely move within the recently regained territories and access polling stations independently, which is against the ODIHR observation methodology. Our team has however visited the territories during our mission here, three days prior to election day, and familiarised ourselves with the preparations of the elections by the authorities. No OSCE observer has been present on election day in those territories, in particular in the city of Khankendi. We hope that it will be possible to have observers deploy safely to those areas for the next electoral process. It is notable that for the first time since its independence, the country has been able to organise elections in the entirety of its sovereign and internationally recognized territory.”
Daniela De Ridder, Head of the OSCE PA delegation, discussed the organization’s awareness of the highly restrictive media environment in Azerbaijan which has “hindered the media from operating freely and led to widespread self-censorship, limiting the scope for independent journalism and critical debate,” which are considered critical elements of free and fair societies.
The OSCE members also noted that the amendments made to Azerbaijan’s electoral code, “did not address previous ODIHR and Venice Commission recommendations or implemented judgments of the European Court of Human Rights”, including those on restrictions on fundamental freedoms, limitations on voter and candidate eligibility, and the composition of election commissions.
Overall, the lack of transparency and observed abnormalities around the voter register, candidate registration, voting procedures, and vote counting raise serious concerns about the legitimacy of Azerbaijan’s electoral process.
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