Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Janez Lenarcic has observed the voting process at a number of polling stations in Baku, APA reports. Janez Lenarcic said that more than 300 OSCE ODIHR observers are monitoring the voting process. He noted that it is too early to comment on the outcomes of monitoring and the mission will announce its assessment after all observers submit their reports: “We are interested in general view. It is like a mosaic, for now we see some of its parts. What is seen by observers at the polling stations, it is a part of the mosaic.”Janez Lenarcic said that they will reveal preliminary results of the monitoring on October 10 and a final report will be presented two months later. According to him, the long-term mission in Azerbaijan observed various stages of election campaign – media coverage of the campaign, the activity of CEC and the election administration and candidates’ campaigns. The observers will monitor the voting, after the polling stations are closed, they will observe the counting of votes. Lenarcic said some of the observers will stay in Azerbaijan for a few more days to monitor the post-elections situation, process of consideration of complaints and other issues.
OSCE ODIHR passed a decision to send an observation mission to Azerbaijan at the official invitation of Azerbaijan. This is the 9th election the OSCE ODIHR is observing in Azerbaijan. Led by Tana de Zulueta long-term observers have started working in Azerbaijan since August 29. The group includes 30 observers and 12 experts. 280 short-term observers also arrived in Azerbaijan at the end of last week. /APA/