Party registration process in Azerbaijan raises serious concerns

WARSAW, 22 September 2000 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) is extremely concerned that seven political parties were denied registration by the Central Election Commission for the parliamentary elections scheduled for 5 November 2000. These include the Musavat Party, which was also barred from running in the 1995 parliamentary elections.

The ODIHR regrets that political parties are excluded from the election based only on a suspicion of forged signatures. The ODIHR further deplores that these parties are not provided the benefit of further verification to ascertain the veracity of the suspicion, and the opportunity to remedy discrepancies before a final decision of the Central Election Commission is taken.

The ODIHR will continue to monitor closely the registration process and will follow on the appeals lodged by the political parties denied registration.

For further information, please contact Mr. Nikolai Vulchanov, ODIHR Election Adviser, tel. +48-22- 520 06 00.