Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI) ! REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS FEBRUARY 9, 2020 I INTERIM REPORT (December 5, 2019 - January 17, 2020) BAKU JANUARY 21, 2020 1 CONTENT I. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................... 3 II. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 4 III. POLITICAL CONTEXT AND ELECTION SYSTEM......................................... 5 A. POLITICAL CONTEXT............................................................................................ 5 B. ELECTION SYSTEM................................................................................................ 6 IV. PREPARATION FOR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS…………………….. 6 A. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION............................................................................ 6 B. VOTER REGISTRATION........................................................................................ 7 C. ORGANIZATION OF ELECTION CONSTITUENCIES..................................... 8 V. PRE-ELECTION POLITICAL SITUATION AND CONTESTANTS….................. 8 A.POLITICAL SITUATION………………………………………………………….. 8 B.CONTESTANTS.......................................................................................................... 9 VI. NOMINATION AND REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATES................................... 10 A. LEGAL FRAMEWORK……............................................................................... 10 B. OFFICIAL INFORMATION…............................................................................ 11 C. OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROCESS OF NOMINATION AND REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATES................................................................. 12 VII. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS........................................................................... 21 VIII. MEDIA ENVIRONMENT AND PREPARATION FOR ELECTION CAMPAIGN………………………………....………….…………. 22 A. MED"A.................................................................................................................... 22 B. PREPARATION FOR ELECTION CAMPAIGN.............................................. 24 IX. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................ 27 2 I. SUMMARY The Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI) provides legal assistance to the various parties in- volved in the election that has been commenced since December 5, 2019, as far as conditions permit, in addition to observing elections. At this stage, IDI prepared a report by conducting monitoring on the pre-election environment, the election preparation process, the nomination and registration process, the activities of the election administration, preparation for the campaign, the status of complaints and appeals. It also provided recommendations in the report for eliminating the factors that violated electoral rights. In general, the report is based on monitoring conducted by twelve-person long-term ob- servers and information collected from various parties involved in the elections. The political context has not changed. Again, the forthcoming election takes place in a political environment in which one political force is absolutely dominant and is characterized by the lack of dialogue between the ruling party and the main opposition parties. The problems presented by IDI in the pre-election assessment paper on political rights and freedom of activity are still unre- solved. In the pre-election period, inconsistencies in the organization of the constituencies, which IDI recorded, have not been eliminated. According to IDI observations, voters' lists had not been played at precincts located in the areas of some election constituencies until 25 days before the voting day. In some election constituen- cies, voters’ lists were not placed in areas, which voters can see well and which are easy to ac- cess. Compared to the 2010 and 2015 parliamentary elections, there were fewer, if any, more “silent” violations of the law in the process of nomination and registration of candidates in the current election. Violations in this election occurred especially against persons nominated on behalf of other polit- ical parties and organizations, as well as those who independently nominated themselves. IDI recorded the first stage of parliamentary elections which includes violations related to nomi- nation and registration of candidates in the observation of 74 election constituencies in the coun- try and grouped these violations in several names. There has been no positive change in the assessment of the pre-election media environment. Af- ter the election has been commenced, there were some violations in the context of freedom of expression. In addition, the process of preparation for the election campaign informs that there will be serious restrictions contrary to the creation of an equal, competitive and favorable cam- paign environment for the parties involved. 3 While CEC has technically carried out its activities in a legally compliant manner and time peri- od, the monitoring of official information during the nomination and registration phase has been restricted. Therefore, it is doubtful that the figures presented officially reflect reality. At the first stage of the elections, i.e. the process of nomination and registration of candidates, the majority of the complaints filed about the actions and inaction of constituency election com- missions have not been investigated objectively. Of 37 complaints that the CEC received, 24 were rejected as unfounded. IDI assumes that the rejected complaints have not been investigated comprehensively. Moreover, the CEC’s “hotline 115” was not effective to immediately report and address any election-related violations. IDI notes that violations during the nomination and registration of candidates, as well as the indi- cators of preparation for the campaign, raise serious doubts that February 9, 2020, parliamentary elections will not be free, fair and democratic. The calls of the local and international organizations should be heeded, and the persons recog- nized as political prisoners and prisoners of conscience should be released in order to create an environment of mutual trust in the country. Relevant actions should be taken and fair, objective and substantiated investigations must be conducted to examine the violations of the law documented. The persons responsible for viola- tion of electoral rights, especially the officials of state bodies and municipalities involved in such activities should be called to account and punished. At the next stages of the elections, a free and fair election environment should be created for the election subjects, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and press should be ensured, as well as external interferences in the election process should be prevented. II. INTRODUCTION On February 9, 2020, early parliamentary elections will be held in Azerbaijan. The Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI) provides legal assistance to the various parties in- volved in the election that has been commenced since December 5, 2019, as far as conditions permit, in addition to observing elections. At this stage, IDI prepared a report by conducting monitoring on the pre-election environment, the election preparation process, the nomination and registration process, the activities of the election administration, preparation for the campaign, the status of complaints and appeals. It also provided recommendations in the report for eliminating the factors that violated electoral 4 rights. In general, the report is based on monitoring conducted by twelve-person long-term ob- servers and information collected from various parties involved in the elections. More information on IDI’s activities can be found on the organization’s official website1 and in the previous report2. III. POLITICAL CONTEXT AND ELECTION SYSTEM A. POLITICAL CONTEXT The political context as stated in the “pre-election assessment paper” 3 dated December 25, 2019, published by IDI has not changed. Again, the forthcoming election takes place in a political envi- ronment in which one political force is absolutely dominant and is characterized by the lack of dialogue between the ruling party and the main opposition parties. In this period, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced its judgment on De- cember 12, 2019, on the appeal of the former chairman of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan, Mov- sum Samadov, who is still in prison. According to the decision, the court announced that free- dom, right to inviolability and right to fair trial granted by the European Convention on Human Rights (Articles 5.3, 6.1, 6.3 of the Convention) have been violated against M. Samadov and Azerbaijan has been fined with compensation penalty as € 4,000.4 Moreover, after the start of the elections, international bodies expressed their positions on the observation of the elections. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Needs Assessment Mission, which arrived in Baku on December 19-21 at the invitation of the Azerbaijani govern- ment, released its report on December 26, 2019.5 It laid stress on the need to go into action with 30-person long-term and 350-person short-term observation missions. Following a mutual agreement, the ODIHR Observation Mission has announced that it began its work on January 7, 2020, by holding a media conference.6 A briefing was given about the start of a 30-person long- term observation mission since January