The chairman of the Azerbaijani Central Electoral Commission
(CEC) has again acknowledged that fraud occurred during the
1998 presidential elections but said that this experience would
guarantee that the local elections in December would be free
and democratic. Azerbaijani TV station ANS reported that at a
CEC sitting on 16th August Chairman Jafar Valiyev said that he
disagreed with the view of the US National Democratic Institute
on the municipal elections. (In a press release on 10th August
the National Democratic Institute said parliament should be
reconvened "to pass a series of enabling laws to accompany the
revised law" on municipal elections.
Amongst other recommendations the press release also said that changes were
needed in the composition of the Central Electoral Commission
to promote public confidence in the electoral process.) The
following is the text of the report by Azerbaijani TV station
ANS on 16th August [Presenter in studio] The Central Electoral Commission [CEC]
today again admitted that the presidential elections [on 11th
October 1998] had been falsified. The CEC's chairman, Jafar
Valiyev, told today's meeting of the CEC that OSCE and other
European organizations reported about 12-13 per cent
falsifications of the presidential elections' outcome and about
30 per cent falsifications of similar elections in Armenia.
Comparing these figures, he wondered why we could not enjoy our
12-13 per cent while the Armenians were happy with their 30 per
cent. He said that this outcome was a guarantee that the
forthcoming municipal elections would be free and democratic.
Saadat Mammadova is reporting from the CEC's meeting:
[Correspondent, over video of CEC meeting] Approximately
half of the one-hour meeting was dedicated not to preparations
for the municipal elections but to discussion of the recent
criticism of the CEC in the press. First of all Valiyev denied
a report by the chairman of the Party for National Independence
of Azerbaijan, Etibar Mammadov, about his resignation and said
the following. [Valiyev, speaking at the meeting] Such things
are to be expected from him [Mammadov].
[Correspondent] Valiyev categorically rejected all the
negative reports, directed against the CEC and said that
somebody could think differently from us but the key condition
was that any opinion should be unbiased. He said that some mass
media were slandering not just what the CEC had done but also
what it had not done. [Valiyev, speaking at the meeting] The reality of the
present time can be counted in legislation in various forms.
And our attitude to this issue is different than that of the
management of the Azerbaijani representative office of the US
National Democratic Institute.
[Correspondent] Valiyev also said that the aforementioned
institute was a public organization and its employees were not
working on their own. I know full well the character of this
"nest" and very soon I will report many issues, he said.
CEC secretary Ilgar Abbasov said that he felt sorry that
people presented the opinion of the National Democratic
Institute as the opinion of the US government. The CEC's deputy
chairman, Nizami Safarov, answered the complaints of political
parties against the CEC and the laws on municipal elections by
saying that there was no country in the world where the
opportunities for political parties were considered in the laws
on municipal elections. The CEC will perform just a procedural
role in these elections and so criticism of the CEC in full is
not right.Visits of CEC members to the regions between 19th and 28th
August, the preparation of protocols to organize territorial
electoral commissions and the regulations for the first meeting
of territorial electoral commissions were then discussed and
approved. It was reported that the organization of the
territorial electoral commissions should be finished by 8th
September and the creation of 4,500 precincts should be
completed by 23rd September. Valiyev recalled the lack of time
to justify beforehand any shortcomings. He said that
implementing a law was harder than writing one. There are some
issues that we do not know ourselves, because municipal
elections are being held for the first time, he said.
Saadat Mammadova, Ilyas Bahmanoglu, ANS.
Source: ANS TV, Baku, in Azeri 1630 gmt 16 Aug 99
BBC Mon TCU 170899 at/fa