Russia welcomes success of parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan

Yesterday during a telephone conversation Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Azerbaijani counterpart on the victory of the ruling party in the parliamentary elections on November 1st. According to the results, the party ‘New Azerbaijan’ received 70 out of 125 seats in the supreme legislative body of the country. 503 foreign observers were accredited, who represented 40 international organizations. The most numerous delegation consisted of 147 and represented the CIS Observation Mission.

The head of the CIS mission Sergey Lebedev stressed that voters’ citizen responsibility has grown significantly: many of those who had conversations with observers noted that who would become representatives in the Milli Majlis was important. The preliminary findings of the observers were confirmed by statistics: 2.89 million Azerbaijanis have visited polling stations in order to vote. The turnout was 55.7%. It is 6% higher in comparison with 2010.

The head of the delegation and the PACE, Jordi Chukla, noted the fact that the parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan in accordance with international standards. According to him, preparations for the elections and the voting process were carried out professionally at a good technical level. The PACE has also noted improvements voters’ access to information. There were neither serious incidents nor pressure on voters during the elections.

The head of the CEC, Lidia Yermoshina, said: "We saw a prosperous country, whose people anticipated an important day and had free access to the implementation of its electoral votes."

"Russia welcomes the successful holding of the parliamentary elections in the friendly country of Azerbaijan. Representatives of the Federation Council, including the mission of the CIS observers, the State Duma, the Russian Central Electoral Commission and the authorities of the Russian Federation took part in monitoring the elections. Together with colleagues from other CIS countries, they gave a high assessment of the organization and voting process, as well as pointing out the compliance with international standards, the laws of the country and the lack of serious violations. The parliamentary elections became a new important step in the development of government institutions and civic society, as well as ensuring a stable internal political situation in Azerbaijan. I would like to remind you once again that we have traditionally developed a close and trusting partnership with this country,’’ Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said.