First roundtable on reform of Azerbaijani election law to take place in December

BAKU, 11 October 2002 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today announced that the public consultation process on reforming the country's election legislation will begin with an ODIHR roundtable in the first half of December 2002. In preparation for the roundtable, the draft new election law will be made available to the public by the authorities in mid-November. The announcement was made following a meeting between the Azerbaijani authorities and Ambassador Gérard Stoudmann, Director of the ODIHR.

"It is of greatest importance that the process leading to the adoption of the new election law is transparent and inclusive, and I am glad to see that this is also the view of the Azerbaijani authorities", said Ambassador Stoudmann. "We therefore welcome the decision of the authorities to start a public consultation process in the very near future."

Following the issuance of the draft election law, the ODIHR and the Council of Europe's Venice Commission will share their comments and recommendations with all actors involved in the reform of the election legislation before the first roundtable.

The ODIHR-sponsored roundtables will be attended by representatives of the Azerbaijani authorities, the Central Election Commission, political parties, members of parliament and non-governmental organizations, as well as the international community.