CoE DISCONTENT WITH AZERBAIJAN
Support A1+!Council of Europe Monitoring Committee rapporteurs Andreas Gross and Andres Herkel will submit the report entitled “Functioning of Democratic Institutes in Azerbaijan” to the PACE summer session to be held in Strasbourg June 20-24.
The draft resolution says that PACE views the coming parliamentary elections as a “decisive test”, since the latest elections held in the country did not correspond to democratic standards. The Parliamentary Assembly calls the authorities and opposition to do everything within the limits of the possible to avoid violence. Gross and Herkel also recommend the Assembly to condemn the killing of Elmar Huseynov and the atmosphere of fear that reigns among journalists after it.
The rapporteurs consider that PACE should express concern over the fact that the Election Code cannot secure fair elections and that the Azerbaijani leadership refused to fulfill politically important recommendations by the Venice Commission and the OSCE on the amendments to the election legislation.
In their opinion the Assembly should not ratify the mandate of the new delegation of the Azeri parliament in January 2006 if the international community does not recognize the parliamentary elections as free and fair.
