Baku, 13 December 1999

The Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRAE)
observed the Municipal Elections in the Republic of Azerbaijan which took
place on 12 December 1999. The observation represents a part of local
democracy in this country in view of Azerbaijan accession to the Council of
Europe. The observation was done in coordination with other international
observers.

The delegation welcomes these elections because they represent a first
important step towards democracy at local level.

The following is a summary of the election observation:

The CLRAE visited around 60 polling stations. Although the general climate
was calm, open and friendly, the delegation observed a number of serious
irregularietes of the nature which could prejudice the electoral process.

The following were the main problems:

Unauthorised persons were present in the polling stations and behaved
obtrusively with work of the election officials and voters;

A mismatch between signatures registered on the voting list and votes found
in the ballot box;

Ballot stuffing;

Unauthorised use of the mobile voting box;

Poor management of unused ballot papers;

Addition of extra voters on the official list during the day of the
election.

The observation was done in coordination with other international observers.
The CLRAE delegation believes that there are lessons to be learned for the
future, in particular for the parliamentary elections in 2000. The future
security and welfare of Azerbaijan depends on further improvements in the
democratic process.

The CLRAE will prepare and distribute a provisional report on the elections
after the official results are published.