STATEMENT by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Observer Mission on monitoring the preparations for and holding of the 11 April 2018 early presidential election in the Republic of Azerbaijan

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (the SCO, or the Organisation) is the world's largest regional international organisation, which is actively involved in shaping a unique model for international political, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation that is fair and meets the interests of all countries. Today, the SCO covers one-third of the territory of Eurasia where over 44 percent of the world's population live. Aggregately, the SCO member countries account for about a quarter of the global GDP.

One of the SCO's political objectives is the international monitoring of presidential and parliamentary elections, as well as referenda. The SCO has carried out 45 election observer missions since 2004, mostly in SCO member countries.

On the invitation of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the SCO, for the first time in its history, sent an observer mission to the Republic of Azerbaijan, a country with SCO dialogue partner status.

On 5-12 April 2018, the SCO Mission monitored the preparations for and holding of the election of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Mission views the invitation of international observers as the Azerbaijani leadership's willingness to ensure that the presidential election is open, transparent and democratic.

The Mission included 16 accredited observers representing legislative, executive and election agencies of the seven SCO member states, including Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as SCO Secretariat officials.

SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimov headed the Mission.

The Mission included the following members:

From the Republic of Kazakhstan: Nurbek Almashov, First Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Azerbaijan; and Tlek Kapyshov, Second Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Azerbaijan.

From the People's Republic of China: Cui Guojie, adviser, Chinese Foreign Ministry.

From the Republic of Kyrgyzstan: Akylbek Eshimov, Deputy Chairperson of the Central Electoral and Referendum Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic; and Bakhtiyar Kadirov, member, Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of the Kyrgyz Republic.

From the Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Naveed Anjum, Deputy Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Azerbaijan.

From the Russian Federation: Alexander Bashkin, member, Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building; Irek Zinnurov, member, State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots; and Yevgeny Shevchenko, member, Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation.

From the Republic of Tajikistan: Muhammadboron Zoirov, member, Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of the Republic of Tajikistan.

From the Republic of Uzbekistan: Batyr Matmuratov, Chair of the Senate Committee for Legislation and Judicial and Legal Matters, Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

From the SCO Secretariat: Sergei Smetannikov, 1st category expert; Dmitry Bulgakov, Assistant SCO Secretary General; and legal assistants Daniar Chirkeyev, Ulugbek Yusubov and Feng Lianghao.

The Mission performed its functions in line with the SCO Regulations on the SCO Observer Mission at Presidential and/or Parliamentary Elections and Referendums approved by the SCO Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in 2006 and in keeping with the comprehensive election monitoring experience accumulated by the SCO over the past 14 years.

The Mission was guided by the principles of objectivity, political neutrality, openness, impartiality and non-interference in the internal matters of the country, as well as strict compliance with the national laws of Azerbaijan.

The Mission's conclusions are based on an analysis of personal observations by the Mission staff and information material collected during preparations for the election and on election day, 11 April 2018.

On 8 February 2018, upon receiving an official invitation from Azerbaijan, Head of the Mission — the SCO Secretary General — set up a working group at the SCO Secretariat and began planning the Mission's lineup.

At the beginning of March 2018, with the goal to ensure effective election supervision, the SCO Secretary General approved a concept for the Mission's activity, which was drawn up for monitoring the preparations for and the holding of an early presidential election in Azerbaijan on 11 April 2018.

Under this concept, the SCO Secretariat's working group conducted a comprehensive analysis of Azerbaijan's election laws and electoral process, as well as Azerbaijani media coverage of the election.

Head of the Mission — the SCO Secretary General — and the Mission staff held official meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chief Election Commissioner of Azerbaijan, the mayors of Baku and Sumgait, the heads, secretaries and members of regional and district election commissions, voters, observers from foreign countries and international organisations, as well as local and public observers and media representatives.

The Mission received, without difficulty, the necessary information and copies of election documents from Azerbaijan's election authorities, freely visited all polling districts and polling stations, familiarised itself in detail with the Central Election Commission's preparations for the election both inside the country and in Azerbaijan's diplomatic missions abroad, as well as the election campaigns by the candidates and how complaints over violations of the election laws were handled.

Azerbaijan created the necessary conditions for the Mission's work on the comprehensive monitoring of preparations for and the holding of the election, which is proof of maximum openness, transparency and the democratic character of the electoral process in the country.

The legislative foundation for presidential elections in the Republic of Azerbaijan includes the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Electoral Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other presidential, parliamentary and governmental legislative acts of the Republic of Azerbaijan that regulate the preparations for and the holding of elections as well as decisions taken by the Central Election Commission to implement the above legislative acts.

According to Article 178 of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, an election day shall be held on a Wednesday on the third week of October of the last year of the president's term of office, in this case, on 17 October 2018. In addition, according to Article 101.1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Article 179 of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the president of Azerbaijan has the right to hold an early presidential election.

On 5 February 2018, in accordance with Article 101.1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Article 179 of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the President of Azerbaijan adopted a directive to declare 11 April 2018 the day for an early presidential election.

In accordance with Article 101 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the president is elected for a seven-year term by way of universal, equal and direct suffrage by free, personal and secret ballot.

According to Article 2 of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the participation of the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan in elections shall be free and voluntary. No one shall have the right to pressure the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan to participate or not to participate in elections, and no one may impede them to express their will freely.

In 2003, Azerbaijan was one of the first states in the region to adopt an electoral code, which systematised the organisation and process for a presidential election.

The document was progressive and contained new legislative provisions that remain relevant today due to regular updates of the Code. In particular, it has been amended and expanded to further democratise and improve the election process.

The Code is structured systematically and applies equally to all parties participating in the election. The Code includes advanced electoral standards as well as many proposals made by general and specialised international organisations.

Over 10 presidential, parliamentary and local elections as well as referendums have been held in Azerbaijan under the existing Code since 2003, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the document and the national electoral legislation in general to provide social and political stability and welfare in the country.

The electoral bodies in Azerbaijan consist of a traditional three-tier hierarchical system that includes:

1) The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

2) Territorial election commissions: 125 commissions were created in the country.

3) Polling station commissions: 5,641 commissions, including 5,426 permanent polling stations in the country and 215 temporary polling stations at the oil platforms located in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea, vessels that were at sea on election day, hospitals, health resorts, guest houses, military units, diplomatic missions abroad, etc., where at least 50 voters are registered.

The mission notes that the Central Election Commission together with the Foreign Ministry and Azerbaijani diplomatic missions abroad worked to create favourable voting conditions for citizens residing or temporarily staying in foreign countries. Polling stations were opened at diplomatic missions and consulates of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 41 foreign states, where almost 13,000 citizens voted.

The Calendar Plan for the Main Actions and Events to Prepare and Hold an Early Presidential Election in the Republic of Azerbaijan (11 April 2018) was developed and adopted by the Central Election Commission to organise the election at the highest level.

All responsible state bodies fulfilled their tasks, as envisaged in national legislation, effectively and on schedule.

In particular, following measures were implemented:

— The Central Election Commission completely updated the voter lists. The commission began preparing the single list in January 2018. The voter database was checked with special software, and the latest version was published on the Central Election Commission's website. The total number of citizens with the right to vote that were registered in the database was 5,309,434, with 371 voters over 100 years old.

— Azerbaijan youth, which comprises more than 30 percent of the population, made a special contribution to successfully holding the election. Various youth organisations were active during the process.

— The Milli Majlis (National Assembly) publishing department printed 5,347,803 voting ballots starting on 24 March 2018.

— The Central Election Commission fully provided the lower level election commissions with the necessary printed materials, ballot boxes, invisible ink, UV lamps with spare batteries, polling booths, security locks, special cases for minutes, document bags, stationery and other necessary equipment.

— Special conditions were created for people with disabilities. Polling stations were provided with special templates with ballot information written in Braille for visually impaired. Wheelchair ramps for disabled persons were installed in 1,455 polling stations. Mobile ballot boxes were provided for those who could not go to a polling station due to medical conditions.

— Ambulance services, police, the general prosecutor's office, and other state services were reinforced to provide security and protect the rights of voters, international observers and other subjects of the campaign. More than 12,000 police officers worked on the eve and on the day of the election with public monitoring provided by the Secure City system.

— Expert groups to follow up on complaints about electoral rights infringement were established at the Central Election Commission and territorial electoral commissions. More serious electoral violations were promply investigated by the Group under the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office.

Video surveillance systems were installed in 119 of 125 constituencies across Azerbaijan. The first web cameras appeared at the country's polling stations in 2008. During this presidential election, video surveillance was available at over 1,000 polling stations that cover almost all regions in Azerbaijan.

To control the operation of webcams, a technical centre was set up at the Central Election Commission, so that the voting process could be watched at over 20 percent of all polling stations, thereby considerably facilitating the work of the election Observer Mission. Any internet user could watch the voting process and vote count online at the Central Election Commission's website. Another positive aspect of using webcams was that applications and complaints relating to voting issues from citizens and other participants in the election could be verified with the help of the camera footage.

In order to hold a fair and transparent election, polling stations used special indelible ink, which cannot be erased for several days, and voter finger prints were taken, as well as ultraviolet detectors used for verification purposes.

Special training courses were held for election commission staff who were responsible for supervising the fingerprint identification procedure. The technology is a reliable means of preventing multiple voting by one individual.

The Election State Automated Information System was widely used during the presidential election to register voters, make a single list of voters, count votes and summarise the vote results. The Central Election Commission, its information centre, and area and district election commissions were connected to this system via a single local network that allowed the election commissions to quickly exchange information.

The Central Election Commission released various pamphlets, magazines, collected articles, directories and instructions to provide more information on the election to members of election commissions, presidential candidates, international and local observers, voters and all other participants.

In particular, 16 collected articles consisting of 38 regulatory and legal documents were distributed among members of election commissions.

All legal documents were also posted on the Central Election Commission's website in Azerbaijani and English, which significantly facilitated the study and application of the country's legislation.

The Central Election Commission prepared memos with useful information on the monitoring procedure for international observers and pamphlets on the voting procedure for voters. It also prepared memos that were distributed among police to explain their rights and obligations for the duration of the election.

The Central Election Commission and other national bodies took the necessary steps to inform the public in Azerbaijan and the international community about the presidential election in the country as quickly as possible.

The websites of the Central Election Commission and its information centre (www.msk.gov.az, www.cec.gov.az, www.infocenter.gov.az) regularly updated information on presidential candidates, composition, addresses and contacts of polling stations with their locations on online maps, as well as voter lists, press releases and other materials of public interest in Azerbaijani and English. The Central Election Commission created pages on social networks and periodically updated the information.

The 2018 Election Independent Media Centre was established with the website www.secki2018.az publishing opinions and statements made by responsible officials and experts on the election process as well as photo and video materials in Azerbaijani, Russian and English.

Posters on the election were located in public areas.

The events held by the Central Election Commission were widely covered by the media. Over 50 briefings on various aspects of the electoral process that were attended by senior officials and representatives of the Central Election Commission as well as lower level commissions were held.

Television and radio stations broadcast special video and audio recordings. A special hotline (115) and online service were launched by the Central Election Commission.

In order to upgrade the participants' skills, a wide range of educational programmes and projects in 18 areas, including professional courses on electoral law, seminars on complaints and disputes, conferences on penitentiary service, practical seminars for electoral commission workers on the use of the election automated information system and courses on electoral law for members of election commissions at all levels as well as employees of foreign, interior, justice and healthcare ministries, ombudsman's services, computer operators and journalists were held in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In total, over 32,000 participants in the electoral process took educational courses.

Under Article 75 of Azerbaijan's Electoral Code, campaigning started 23 days ahead of election day and ended 24 hours before voting began. It lasted from 19 March through 8 April 2018.

Events held within the framework of election campaign were open and detailed and received versatile coverage in the media in strict compliance with national law.

Thus, the Public TV and Radio Broadcasting Company offered all candidates free air time for six hours a week, or twice the limit envisaged by the law.

Popular newspapers and other print media such as Azerbaijan, Khalg Gazety and Baku Worker provided free space for the publication of election campaign information.

The candidates for the presidency had an opportunity to buy air time and print space in the media on equal terms, funding it from their election accounts. Thirty-four media outlets, including 19 news agencies, nine magazines and newspapers and six TV and radio channels provided airtime or space. The list was available on the Central Election Commission's website.

Simultaneously, 168 permanent locations, including 84 outdoor and 85 indoor venues, for candidate-voter meetings were organised in cities, districts and other communities. These locations were also published on the Central Election Commission's website in a timely manner.

Campaign posters and other information materials were put up on advertising panels, billboards and banners.

The candidates held rallies and meetings with voters and addressed voters directly in the regions.

The Mission points out that the presidential election in Azerbaijan was conducted on a broad competitive basis with the active participation of civil society representatives and that favourable conditions were created for voters to be able to make an independent and conscientious choice.

The Central Electoral Commission registered 894 international and 58,175 local observers, who expressed a wish to oversee the early presidential election in Azerbaijan.

The international observers represented 59 countries and 61 international organisations. Apart from the SCO, observer missions were sent by the Committee of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic-Speaking Countries, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation, and others.

Eight candidates were registered for the 11 April 2018 presidential election in Azerbaijan, including:
1. Ilham Aliyev, born 1961, incumbent President of Azerbaijan, nominated by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party;
2. Zahid Oruc, born 1972, member of the Parliament (Milli Majlis) of Azerbaijan, independent candidate;
3. Araz Alizadeh, born 1951, member of the Parliament (Milli Majlis) of Azerbaijan, nominated by the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan;
4. Gudrat Hasanguliyev, born 1965, member of the Parliament (Milli Majlis) of Azerbaijan, nominated by the Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party;
5. Faraj Guliyev, born 1962, member of the Parliament (Milli Majlis) of Azerbaijan, nominated by the National Revival Movement Party;
6. Hafiz Hajiyev, born 1956, politician, nominated by the Modern Equality Party;
7. Razi Nurullayev, born 1971, politician, nominated by the Front-Line Initiative Group;
8. Sardar Jalaloglu Mammadov, born 1954, politician nominated by the Democratic Party.

Election day, 11 April 2018, was declared a public holiday in accordance with the Electoral Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On that day, the SCO Mission observers arrived at the polling stations before they opened to the public to oversee the preparations of the ballot papers and the sealing of the stationary as well as portable ballot boxes.

To provide a broad view of the election process across Azerbaijan, the SCO Mission sent its observers to five cities — Baku, Sumgait, Absheron, Ganja and Mingachevir — and their suburbs.

Ahead of and on the actual election day, the SCO observers visited 384 polling stations or 6.8 percent of the total number of polling stations across Azerbaijan.

The SCO observers visited polling stations without coordinating the matter with the executive or election authorities of Azerbaijan. Each member of the SCO Mission selected his or her polling station and did not encounter any obstacles that could hinder their work.

The SCO Observer Mission reported major public activity on election day and high professional standards of election commission members.

Members of the election commissions provided the necessary conditions for voting, worked without any bias, gave exhaustive explanations regarding any questions that the public might have had, and otherwise showed consideration for the voters, local, public and international observers, as well as journalists.

The district election commission had all the necessary documents, information as well as reference material, voter registration lists, instruction manuals, duty and evacuation charts, plus other documents.

The work of the election commissions can be described as professional, open, transparent and independent.
Voting proceeded calmly in keeping with the established procedure and was monitored by local, public and international observes together with the media.

Members of the SCO Mission also attended the closing of the polling stations, vote counting and the signing of election commission protocols on the voting results.

Members of the SCO Mission did not receive any complaints or criticism on the actual election day.

At the same time, the SCO Mission did take note of a few technical violations, which were not enough to influence the outcome of the election.

The SCO Observer Mission acted on the assumption that elections are not held for international observers but primarily for the people and are aimed at boosting the given country's socioeconomic development.

The SCO Mission has concluded that the presidential election in the Republic of Azerbaijan was held in compliance with the country's legislation and international obligations.

The SCO Mission did not report any violations of the national election law that would put in question the legitimacy of the election.

The SCO Observer Mission concludes that the election was legitimate, transparent, fair and democratic.

The SCO Mission concludes that the presidential election held on 11 April 2018 is a major stage in the development of democratic processes in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The SCO Mission congratulates the people of Azerbaijan on electing their president and wishes the elected president success in his efforts to strengthen the independence, sovereignty and socioeconomic progress in the country and to attain new goals in all spheres of life in the country.

The SCO Observer Mission expresses its deep gratitude to the Central Election Commission as well as the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Baku Town Hall and other republican organisations and establishments for their all-round assistance and support during the Mission's operation.