The Central Electoral Commission is conducting an awareness campaign, organising training for electoral administrators, and is continuously working on electoral lists. The effectiveness and quality of that work will be put to the test on election day.
The forthcoming election will be held in an apparently competitive environment, with the official number of Presidential hopefuls, yet to be finalised, likely to exceed ten.
Despite some problems, and given that the campaign has not yet started, the delegation is hopeful that, following the vote, it will be in a position to assess the election as meeting the standards of the Council of Europe and seen as reflecting the will of the people of Azerbaijan.
The delegation was in Baku from 10 to 13 September 2013 at the invitation of the Chairman of the Milli Majlis. It met with the candidates, including the incumbent President, the Speaker of Parliament, members of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, the Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission and the Minister of the Interior, as well as representatives of a cross-section of political parties, NGOs, the media and the diplomatic corps. A full, 32-member PACE observer delegation will be back on 7 October.
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