The assessments by international observers of the elections in Azerbaijan on the 7th of November gave rise to heavy discussion in Baku. 1029 international observers from 21 organizations followed the course of the voting.
The elections passed without incidents or violations of law and order. Representatives of most international missions, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and the European Parliament, viewed the elections favourably. It was said that all opposition parties took part in the elections, the atmosphere was positive, there were no critical remarks on the course of the voting process on the day of the elections.
Thus Baku didn't expect negative assessments of the elections. So the statement of the official representative of the State Department of the USA, Phillip Crowley, came as a shock. He said that the elections didn't meet international and democratic requirements. He also stressed that a serious violation of standards was observed on the day of the elections, including filling of boxes with fake ballots.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan casts doubt on the fairness of the assessment of the State Department, as it differs from the assessment of 45 Americans of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
