OSCE/ODIHR: Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan do not meet international standards

He noted, despite the positive processes marked during the pre-election campaign, it had not enabled to hold transparent, free and democratic elections. "Despite the fact that the voting passed in a quiet atmosphere, the situation aggravated while the counting of votes. Especially it was observed in the evening of November 6 by the closing of the polling stations, Gastings noted.

He also noted, the decision on use of the marking ink on the elections day had been taken too late. "The decision had been taken only two weeks before the elections. At the same time, inking at some polling stations did not take place altogether," the PA OSCE chairman said, noting that unbalanced involvement of political parties representatives in electoral committees caused also problems.

"Balancing of the electoral committees composition could have helped to solve many problems on the voting day," Gastings said. He noted, this statement is based on observations of 665 observers from 42 countries.

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