OSCE ODIHR has released the report of its Needs Assessment Mission. The mission visited Azerbaijan from June 5 to 10 with the purpose to assess problems, which need urgent solution, to strengthen public confidence in elections and fulfillment of obligations by Azerbaijan to OSCE. (22-Jun-2005)

The NAM held meetings in Baku with representatives of the authorities, election administration, political parties, civil society, media and international community. In view of the parliamentary elections scheduled for November 2005, the purpose of the NAM was to assess the conditions for an OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) and to advise on modalities for the potential establishment of an EOM.

Major concerns
The mission has identified several issues, which should be addressed immediately:

  1. The composition of election commissions at all levels should be re-configured in a manner that will ensure they enjoy public confidence, and in particular the confidence of those running for office;
  2. Election officials who committed fraudulent actions leading to invalidation of results in 694 polling stations in the 2003 presidential elections should be prosecuted and should not be involved in administering the parliamentary elections;
  3. The right to be a candidate should be restored to those persons who were convicted after the 2003 post-election disturbances and who were subsequently pardoned;
  4. The power given to the local authorities to restrict political gathering should be curtailed, and freedom of assembly should be respected during the election period;
  5. Authorities should implement previous recommendations to use finger prints of votes as a public confidence and transparency measure;
  6. Provisions in the law which prohibit non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving more than 30% of their funding from foreign state sources from observing elections should be reconsidered.

The other issues of concern of OSCE ODIHR include the accuracy of the voter lists and the transparency of their compilation, the ability of the media to function freely, and the large amounts required for candidate registration deposits. The report reads that the recent murder of journalist Elmar Huseynov raises serious concerns about ability of journalists to report and publish freely.

Media
Although limited change has been seen in the media environment since the 2003
presidential election, the access of voters to impartial or to diverse sources of
information remains limited. Moreover, low professional standards appear to be the norm in Azerbaijan, making voter access to impartial and accurate information more difficult.

In past elections, State television has not provided neutral and balanced election
coverage. Since 2003, State television has been transformed into a joint stock company,but interlocutors indicated that its editorial bias in favor of the authorities remains unchanged. The NAM was told that no new television stations had been able to obtain a license over the past three years, and the authorities have previously told the OSCE’s Freedom of the Media Representative that no new licenses would be forthcoming prior to the elections.

Setting up Election Observation Mission (EOM)
The environment for the establishment of an Election Observation Mission is
challenging. Previous OSCE/ODIHR election observation missions have concluded that elections did not meet OSCE commitments. During the last OSCE/ODIHR EOM for the 2003 presidential election, there were numerous and widespread violations during the pre-election period, on election day itself, and in the post-election period.

The OSCE ODIHR report recommends to that an Election Observation Mission (EOM) should be established 60 days prior to the election day. The OSCE/ODIHR requests OSCE participating States to second to the EOM 28 Long-Term Observers (LTOs) from early September 2005 and 500 Short-Term Observers (STOs) to be deployed for the week around election day. LTOs will observe the registration of candidates and the campaign period, and STOs will observe election
day procedures, including voting, counting, and tabulation of results.