CIS observers begin monitoring parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan

BAKU, October 19. /TASS/. About 130 observers will be in the CIS mission to monitor the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan due November 1, head of the CIS mission Evgeny Sloboda said on Monday. "The mission’s task is to support free and democratic organisation of the election," he said. Azerbaijan’s Central Elections Commission has received applications for accreditation of representatives of Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The mission will also feature representatives of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS member-countries. Earlier, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) refused from monitoring the elections in the republic because of the disputed number of observers, which the Azerbaijani side considered excessive. ODIHR wanted to send over a mission of 380 observers, while the republic said it would receive 130. As of Monday, the country’s Central Elections Commission has accredited over 220 observers from 19 international organisations. The election process will be monitored also by over 37,000 local observers. Read more