Azerbaijan Elections

The United States welcomes the November 30 decision of the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan to annul results in five additional constituencies affected by electoral fraud in the November 6 parliamentary elections. This latest decision follows earlier actions by the Government of Azerbaijan to address damage caused by elections that did not meet international standards, which included overturning results in two constituencies, canceling results in ten constituencies and hundreds of individual precincts, and indicting some individuals suspected of electoral fraud.

These are positive steps, but more needs to be done to address the serious concerns in the international community about reports of fraud and other irregularities. We urge the Government of Azerbaijan to sustain and expand these actions to restore the credibility of the electoral process in various constituencies by: re-running elections in the ten canceled constituencies according to international standards; ensuring freedom of assembly, as well as accountability for law enforcement officials who violate this fundamental freedom; and prosecuting all those suspected of committing electoral fraud.

We urge the Government to start work now on institutional reforms to prevent fraud in future elections. The United States will continue to cooperate with the Government and citizens of Azerbaijan to expand political pluralism and strengthen parliament, political parties, and all democratic institutions to ensure that independent, opposition, and ruling party voices are heard and that the will of the people is respected at all times.

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