No significant irregularities recorded during Azerbaijan’s parliamentary elections: GUAM head

No significant irregularities were recorded during the September 1 snap parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Altai Efendiev, GUAM Secretary General, said on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference in Baku, Efendiyev emphasized that the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were organized and conducted in line with the national legislation and in accordance with the rules and procedures developed by the Central Election Commission.

He said that on the election day, they toured several stations in Yasamal, Sabail and Narimanov regions: "As a group, we believe that proper conditions were created for people to express their opinions and wishes freely. Voter turnout was quite normal, even higher in several polling stations. Conditions were created for voting and activity of the commission in the polling stations as well. Based on our observations, we can say that no significant irregularities were recorded in the elections. " Only minor, non-essential comments were conveyed to the commission members at the polling stations, but I believe these had no impact on the election process.," he added.

The GUAM head noted that the voters were sufficiently informed about the candidates, and the candidates were equally represented on the ballots.

Efendiev stated that the voting process was conducted in a sufficiently competitive manner, in general the election can be considered free and fair.

On Sunday, Azerbaijanis headed to the polls to elect members of the 125-seat National Assembly.

With about 6.421 million registered voters, a total of 990 candidates vied for seats in the Milli Majlis.

The elections are particularly significant as it marks the first time in 30 years that parliamentary elections were held across all of Azerbaijan's territory, including regions liberated from Armenian occupation.


The early election follows President Ilham Aliyev's decision on June 28 to dissolve parliament and fix Sept. 1 as the election date.

News.Az