Worldwide rights groups have also accused Azerbaijani authorities of limiting free speech.
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The head of state expressed satisfaction with active participation of the mission led by Ilyas Umakhanov in monitoring of the election process.
The main trans-Atlantic security and rights group, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, has refused to monitor the vote after Azerbaijan demanded that it sharply cut the number of observers.
In accordance with the country’s legislation, the elections will be considered valid with any number of votes.
Senator Mushahid Hussain, introduced the “distinguished and diverse delegation of 6 Senators, representing the Pakistani political spectrum with 5 political parties participating, with 3 from the Government and 3 from the Opposition, who all fully support Azerbaijan’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh, and that is why Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Armenia”.
More than 5,500 polling stations for voting in the elections to the Azerbaijani parliament (Milli Mejlis) have opened on Sunday at 8 a.m. local time (7 a.m. Moscow Time). Preliminary results of the votes will be reported on the CEC website at night immediately after district election commissions hand in the records in a generalised table for each polling district. In addition, a few representatives of opposition bodies are running for MPs as non-party candidates, including 10 candidates from the Republican Alternative movement (ReAl), two from Nida, whose names remain in the ballot-papers, one candidate from D-18 and 3 candidates from the White Bloc.
“This election is taking place with no credible worldwide observers”, she notes.
To hold a government position requires being a member of the ruling party, television is state controlled, and opposition leaders have always been subject to arrest on dubious charges and other forms of intimidation.
“Azerbaijani authorities must uphold their human rights obligations and immediately release all prisoners of conscience, as well as stop persecuting civil society activists, including human rights defenders”, said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty’s Deputy Director of Europe and Central Asia. Changes to the election code have restricted free air time to only parties fielding candidates in 60 percent of the races for legislative seats, a requirement only the ruling YAP meets.
Analysts said the crackdown has made the outcome of the parliamentary election a foregone conclusion.
Rights groups say the government has particularly clamped down on opponents since Aliyev’s re-election for a third term in 2013.
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s government long has faced criticism in the West for showing little tolerance for dissent and holding elections that fall below democratic standards.
