COE Congress of Local and Regional Authorities: "Azerbaijani delegation's credentials will be frozen"

The session began with the renewal of the delegations and elections for the posts of President of the Congress and Presidents of the chambers, Vice-presidents and Chairs of the statutory committees.

The Congress adopted a Resolution on fixing the date of the repeat local elections due to the illegal elections to 141 municipal authorities in Azerbaijan in 2004. The COE Information Office in Azerbaijan says that according to the Resolution, if Azerbaijan does not conduct repeat local elections by the end of 2006 and Azerbaijani delegation is not formed in full composition, the credentials of the delegation will be frozen.

The Congress also expressed concern over the Portuguese delegation composed of non-elected members to local authorities. The Albanian delegation was not adopted due to the total number of women in its composition, APA reports.