MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said Friday it would not observe the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan due to the restriction on the number of observers.
According to Azerbaijan’s Constitution, the parliamentary elections are being held every five years on the first Sunday of November. This year the elections fall on November 1.
“The restriction on the number of observers taking part would make it impossible for the mission to carry out effective and credible election observation,” Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said, as quoted in a press release on the OSCE website.
Azerbaijan’s Permanent Mission to the OSCE said in August the country's authorities were ready to accept only 6 long-term and not more than 125 short-term ODIHR observers.
