Upon the invitation of the Azerbaijani authorities, OSCE PA will send a delegation of more than 60 observers to monitor the snap parliamentary elections on February 9.
Secki-2020.az informs, citing the OSCE PA press service, that the delegation will monitor elections in Baku and several regions of Azerbaijan.
The OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office has appointed Artur Gerasymov (MP, Ukraine) as Special Coordinator for the OSCE short-term observer mission. Elona Hoxha-Gjebrea (MP, Albania) will head the OSCE PA delegation.
CEC Press Group held its first meeting in new composition
The Press Group of the Central Election Commission (CEC) held its first meeting in a new composition. The meeting was opened by CEC member, head of the Press Group Gabil Orujov, secki-2020.az reports.
He noted that the main purpose of the group’s creation was to monitor the media’s abidance by the rules of the pre-election campaign. Orujov said that the group’s activity is regulated by the relevant regulations adopted by the CEC.
“Our primary task is to view and then table submitted applications to the CEC for consideration. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss some issues. It should be noted that the election legislation does not regulate social media issues. Today, I would like us to discuss some issues related to the desire to campaign mainly through the use of social media. Of course, the lack of regulatory mechanisms does not mean that social media should not be held accountable. Social networking is now one of the main sources of research used. The law is for both obedience and respect. Therefore, a person who wants to be represented in an elected body must respect and obey the law”, he said.
Orujov noted that people, who call themselves bloggers, operate in different directions during the pre-election campaign: “There are those who want to reveal certain deficiencies, along with those who want to act provocatively. Sometimes we see cases where one candidate conducts certain activities about the other candidate through social media. Firstly, we should understand the requirements of the legislation. How should the election campaign be conducted in general? Should a candidate exercise his/her right to campaign by evaluating the activities of another candidate? I would like to have a discussion on such issues”.
“Article 88 of the Election Code makes it clear that misuse of the election campaign is inadmissible. The Code states that no incitement to social, racial, ethnic, religious hatred or hostility is admissible. These moments are specified in compliance with the criminal law. There may also be activities that can be subject to administrative and civil law”, he stated.
Orujov mentioned that ensuring the candidates’ equal status is one of the main principles for creating a free competitive environment: “Equal status of candidates should be ensured. Any activity by a candidate aimed at insulting the honor and dignity of another candidate is prohibited by law. If there is any action against one candidate, the other candidate should also be given the opportunity to defend his/her rights. Orujov said the group has not yet received any appeal.
Fuad Javadov, the member of CEC and the Press Group spoke about the growing role of social media and said it was a reality of today: “We see that with the lapse of time, social media is much more preferred to conduct pre-election campaign”.
Seminars for Constituency Election Commission specialists ended
The Central Election Commission continues large-scale activities to educate participants of different status in connection with the elections to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan scheduled for February 9, 2020. According to secki-2020.az, since February 1, the Election Commission has launched a new project – seminars for information technology specialists of Constituency Election Commission with the purpose of operative publicization of the data and ensuring a higher level of transparency on the election day. The main purpose of the seminars is to provide IT professionals with clear and detailed information on the overall operation of the State Automated Information System and its upgraded opportunities, as well as, clearly explain the questions that are of interest to the experts using the system software. Based on the essence of the project, IT professionals will also be given the opportunity to use specific software modules enabling the direct transmission of the information about voter turnout and protocols on the results of the elections to the Milli Majlis in the test mode as part of the workshops.
Speaking at the event, CEC Secretary Arifa Mukhtarova said that the Central Election Commission continues large-scale activities to educate the participants of different status in connection with the elections to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan: “This is one of the last training by the CEC.
Our main goal is to bring new software projects to the attention of our IT professionals. According to the Election Code and the CEC instructions, IT experts are responsible for transferring the information about voter turnout from Constituency Election Commissions to the CEC, as well as transferring preliminary results of the vote counting to the Constituency Election Commissions and the CEC.
More than 60 OSCE PA members to observe elections in Azerbaijan
