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BAKU: Azeri MPs expect no Council of Europe sanctions

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  • BAKU: Azeri MPs expect no Council of Europe sanctions

    Azeri MPs expect no Council of Europe sanctions

    Zerkalo, Baku
    4 Jan 05


    Text of C. Bayramova report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 4
    January headlined "Calm, just stay calm" and subheaded "Azerbaijan
    will not face Council of Europe sanctions"

    "The Council of Europe will not impose sanctions on Azerbaijan,"
    Andreas Gross, co-rapporteur of the Monitoring Group of the
    Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE], has said
    (www.day.az).

    "We hoped that in the absence of bitter political struggle (the
    opposition's boycott), the 17 December municipal election would have
    become the first free and fair election. However, the 'election
    machine' worked as it was programmed once again," he said.

    Gross also said that he came across exaggerations of voter turnout
    figures in some precincts. Instead of the actual 5-7 per cent, the
    final protocol featured 45-47 per cent. There were other major
    violations as well, and they influenced the outcome of the election as
    a result.

    There are many symptoms (the trial of opposition leaders, restrictions
    on freedom of speech and assembly and so on) which allow one to
    conclude that the Azerbaijani authorities ignore PACE
    resolutions. However, he said that the co-rapporteurs do not intend to
    raise the issue of imposing sanctions on Azerbaijan.

    "Should we expel Azerbaijan from the Council of Europe, this will not
    mean that the authorities will have problems. It is the population,
    first of all, that will face problems. By expelling Azerbaijan we will
    first of all lose the opportunity to help the Azerbaijani people. The
    Azerbaijani delegation to PACE is a bridge by which we conduct talks
    with the government on economic reforms," Gross said.

    In a conversation with our Zerkalo correspondent, MP Qulamhuseyn
    Alibayli, a member of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, said that
    the "falsified 17 December municipal election" may, in effect, be
    recognized as invalid. "It is no secret to anyone that the protocols
    were written under the dictation of the local executive authorities,"
    he said. It is no surprise that these circumstances did not elude
    Gross's attention, Alibayli said.

    Nevertheless, PACE will not discuss sanctions against Azerbaijan in
    the near future. The January session will discuss other topics,
    Alibayli said. "In particular, the Karabakh conflict whose discussion,
    I think, should not affect the image of Azerbaijan. On the contrary,
    it is Azerbaijan's territory that has been occupied and harsh
    sanctions must be imposed on separatist Armenia," Alibayli said.

    Drawing conclusions on what was said above, the MP said that the
    Council of Europe is pursuing any objectives by imposing sanctions on
    the countries that fail to comply with the organization's
    resolutions. "Rather, one can talk about disapproval or, to put it
    mild, reprimands, but certainly not sanctions," he said.

    It is interesting that when we asked Alibayli whether this fact will
    "untie the hands" of the authorities, Alibayli said: "I do not think
    so, because the political climate in Azerbaijan is gradually improving
    as a result of international pressure and criticism".

    Meanwhile, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation, MP Samad Seyidov,
    does not rule out that the PACE agenda may include some irregularities
    in the 17 December municipal elections. However, this will not happen
    before the June session in 2005.

    "It is known that Andreas Gross and Andres Herkel carefully monitored
    the municipal election, but they did so as PACE co-rapporteurs, not as
    observers. When they visited some polling stations, they registered
    certain irregularities and later briefed the Central Electoral
    Commission [CEC] in this regard. I hope that the CEC will take
    appropriate measures to investigate the evidence. Naturally, such
    issues may be reflected in the reports of the co-rapporteurs about how
    Azerbaijan complies with its commitments to the Council of Europe. I
    believe that they will report in June 2005," Seyidov said.
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