Typical Azerbaijani, Falsified Elections: MP

The counting of votes has commenced in Azerbaijan's snap parliamentary elections, with numerous individual citizens, journalists, and observers reporting a large number of electoral violations.

In an interview with "Armenpress," Armenian National Assembly MP and member of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Tatevik Hayrapetyan described the elections as typical Azerbaijani and falsified.

"These were typical Azerbaijani falsified elections, evidently marked by numerous violations. Many citizens were reporting issues, 'Meydan TV' was continuously documenting this throughout the day, as was the 'Radio Liberty' service, and some opposition journalists actively noted the situation with posts on Facebook. There were also quite forceful interventions by the police, where they physically removed trusted persons of some opposition figures from polling stations or prevented them from filming and documenting the issues. Many opposition figures spoke of numerous problems in the voter lists, with deceased individuals apparently voting, and instances of ballot stuffing. The elections occurred in that context without achieving any positive steps in Azerbaijan's electoral history," said Hayrapetyan.

According to preliminary results, about 55% of eligible voters participated in the elections. Tatevik Hayrapetyan believes this figure is "inflated," though it could have been higher.

"They could have also inflated the number more significantly because it was interesting that supposedly by noon, they registered about 27% participation, which is not very likely, as people usually tend to vote more in the evening hours. Given the backdrop of these falsified elections, it is difficult to conclude, as the participation rate is typically higher. They usually manage to ensure around 70% or more participation. From that perspective, the figure is somewhat low," noted the MP.

Tatevik Hayrapetyan hopes that the observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will document the violations that occurred and present them in a report during the PACE spring session.

"One of the PACE observers was the woman who prepared the report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, a rather principled individual, and I believe and hope that those observers will note the existing problems. Even in the preliminary statement from PACE, they had already noted that the atmosphere for campaigning was unfavorable. Tomorrow, they will provide their preliminary observations related to the elections; of course, a more comprehensive report will be published later and presented at the PACE spring session in April. When the report is presented and discussed, we will also have our input. As for individual MPs in Armenia's parliament, there will certainly be observations," added Hayrapetyan.

Referring to the anticipated so-called personnel revolution in Azerbaijan, the MP noted that this revolution is not very visible in the preliminary lists of elected candidates.

"According to preliminary data, the ruling party again holds an absolute majority in the parliament. The party will occupy around 69 seats, but a preliminary list of possible elected candidates has also been published. I am making a comparison, and a large part of them were representatives of the former parliament, which is somewhat puzzling for me because the main point was to bring new, young personnel into parliament. We will see what the further results will show, but at this moment, young faces are not particularly noticeable," she remarked.

The MP also added that according to preliminary data, Seyidov, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation in PACE, has passed in the elections and will likely continue serving in that position.

"I believe that the composition of the Azerbaijani delegation in PACE will still see one or two changes, but if my memory doesn't fail me, almost all of the Azerbaijani colleagues mentioned in short conversations that they were nominated in these elections. If they pass to the parliament, we will see how the composition of the delegation is formed, but I think Seyidov will continue to hold that position. Although it would be wise to replace him, considering his connections with 'caviar diplomacy' and the entire 'laundering' deal. I do not expect any change in policy within the delegation at all," Hayrapetyan concluded.

A total of 1,321 candidates competed for 125 seats in Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis, meaning around 11 individuals were contesting for each parliamentary mandate.