AZERBAIJAN: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OCTOBER 2003 Report by Heidi Sødergren NORDEM Report 06/2004 Copyright: the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights/NORDEM and (author(s)). NORDEM, the Norwegian Resource Bank for Democracy and Human Rights, is a programme of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), and has as its main objective to actively promote international human rights. NORDEM is jointly administered by NCHR and the Norwegian Refugee Council. NORDEM works mainly in relation to multilateral institutions. The operative mandate of the programme is realised primarily through the recruitment and deployment of qualified Norwegian personnel to international assignments, which promote democratisation and respect for human rights. The programme is responsible for the training of personnel before deployment, reporting on completed assignments, and plays a role in research related to areas of active involvement. The vast majority of assignments are channelled through the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. NORDEM Report is a series of reports documenting NORDEM activities and is published jointly by NORDEM and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. Series editor: Gry Kval Series consultants: Hege Mørk, Ingrid K. Ekker, Christian Boe Astrup The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher(s). ISSN: 1503–1330 ISBN: 82–90851–72-3 NORDEM Report is available online at: http://www.humanrights.uio.no/forskning/publ/publikasjonsliste.html Preface OSCE/ODIHR was invited by the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan to observe the presidential elections that were to take place on 15 October 2003. The International Election Observation Missions (IEOM) was a joint undertaking of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Mr Peter Eicher headed the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission (EOM). 20 long-term observers (LTOs) were deployed in the field five weeks before election day. Some 500 short-term observers (STOs) were in charge of observing on election day throughout the country. There was a total of 5,000 polling stations in 125 constituencies. The international observers visited about 50 % of the polling stations. The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights recruited the Norwegian observers to the mission through their NORDEM stand-by-force and on the request of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Three STOs - Ingebjørg Tønnesen, Berit Lindemann and Torbjørn Hustoft – and one LTO – Heidi Sødergren (deployed to Baku) were sent to Azerbaijan to observe the 2003 Presidential Elections. Upon the request of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, this report evaluates the presidential election in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The information in the report is mainly based on observations done by the Norwegian short-term and long-term observers who observed the election under the auspices of the OSCE/ODIHR. The OSCE/ODIHR’s Preliminary Statement of Findings and Conclusions is included in the appendices. NORDEM/ the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights University of Oslo June 2004 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................1 Political background ..............................................................................................................2 The Legislative Framework...................................................................................................4 The Electoral Administration ................................................................................................9 Voter Registration ............................................................................................................... 10 Candidate Registration........................................................................................................ 10 The Election Campaign ...................................................................................................... 12 The Media............................................................................................................................ 14 Observation on Polling Day ............................................................................................... 15 The Review of Complaints Process ................................................................................... 20 Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................................................. 20 Appendices .......................................................................................................................... 22 AZERBAIJAN: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS - 2003 1 Introduction Since Azerbaijan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, seven elections, including the presidential elections on 15 October 2003 and three referenda, have been held. OSCE/ODIHR has observed all elections and referenda since 1993,1 apart from the Constitutional referendum in 2002. Although the election administration has considerably improved the electoral preparatory phase, generally none of the elections arranged have been in compliance with international standards for democratic elections. The OSCE/ODIHR EOM’s final report from the parliamentary elections in 2000 concluded that: “The elections marked some progress over previous occasions, in particular in the preparatory phase and enhanced political pluralism, although the overall process fell short of international standards for democratic elections .“ The OSCE/ODIHR final report from the presidential elections in 2003 concluded that: “The 15 October 2003 presidential election in the Republic of Azerbaijan failed to meet OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections. The overall process reflected a lack of sufficient political commitment to implement a genuine election process.” “Overall, the presidential election was a missed opportunity for a credible democratic process. Progress toward democratic elections in Azerbaijan will now depend first and foremost on the political will of the authorities”. The Norwegian long-term observer (LTO) and short-term observers (STOs) who observed the presidential elections on 15 October to a great extent support the critical view of the ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM). The ODIHR EOM and the Council of Europe were the main international actors that were involved in the elections. They concluded on 16 October that the legislative framework served as a sufficient framework for holding the elections, but unfortunately the Azerbaijani election administration fell short in implementing the electoral code.2 The voter lists were not accurate and created immense problems on election day, as many citizens were not on the final list. The inaccuracy of the voter lists also opened up for manipulation. Although eight presidential candidates ran in the elections, thereby giving the voters a genuine choice, the registration of candidates also fell short of international standards. The Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP) opposition candidate Rasul Guliyev was refused registration based on unclear charges on economic misconduct. Incumbent President Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Alyiev dominated the pre-election campaign, both in terms of media coverage and number of meetings. The opposition was discriminated against as the authorities often turned down requests for meetings. Especially outdoor public meetings were frequently refused. As most of the media is controlled by the ruling regime, Heydar Aliyev and his son were given considerably more campaigning time. 1 The year Heydar Aliyev came to power. 2 Statement on 16 October, Baku. AZERBAIJAN: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS - 2003 2 However, election day proceeded with only minor problems during opening and voting. Unfortunately, the counting and tabulation was characterised by massive fraud, and protocols from some 600 polling stations (out of about 5200) were deemed invalid. All this seriously challenged the official results. Moreover, the elections were held in a political context where the Soviet legacy and Soviet practices are still evident. The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a possible result of Soviet (and Russian) manipulation of internal ethnic division, has left a very visible mark on the politics of the past decade. In the beginning of the 1990s, two presidents had to resign when the tide of the war against Armenia turned against Azerbaijan. The issue of Nagorno-Karbakh was also a hot topic during these elections, and citizens and foreign actors will now look to president Ilham Aliyev to see how he will handle the conflict in the future. Furthermore, Azerbaijan’s geopolitical position and vast reserves of oil and gas have caught the attention of western powers and the Russian Federation, who to a lesser or greater extent have an interest in influencing the political course of Azerbaijan. It was in the above framework the 2003 elections were held. This report will elaborate in further detail on the observations and findings of the Norwegian observers and uses as its basis the ODIHR EOM’s Final Report. The EOM findings will be supplemented by comments and facts based on the observations of the author of this report, who was deployed to Baku as an LTO. The following aspects of the election will be covered: the political context; the legislative framework; voter registration; candidate registration;