AZERBAIJAN`S PRESIDENTIAL POLL MARKED CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS

Baku, 16 0ctober, (AzerTAj)Yesterday's presidential election in Azerbaijan marked considerable progress, said observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament (EP) in a joint press conference on October 16 in Baku.

Ambassador Boris Frlec, head of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, said
this election was conducted in a peaceful manner, and there were notable
improvements. He noted authorities and the Central Election Commission made efforts
to create more equitable conditions for candidates and the election was organized in
an overall efficient manner. The ambassador said the voting day can be generally
viewed positively. The OSCE official thanked the Azerbaijani authorities for
fruitful cooperation and wished success on the democratic way.
Andres Herkel, head of the PACE delegation, characterized boycotting the election by
some opposition parties as wrong strategy.
Marie Anne Isler Beguin, head of EP delegation, said according to their observations
on the election day, the elections were well prepared and carried out smoothly.
At the end, they answered questions from journalists.