Azerbaijan parliamentary elections 2020: Foreign Office statement

An FCO spokesperson said:

The United Kingdom is disappointed that Azerbaijan’s parliamentary elections did not meet international democratic standards, according to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

We are concerned by the reports from the OSCE that the election environment was overly restrictive and did not provide for any meaningful competition, and that procedural violations observed during the vote counting on election day cast doubts on the final results. We note, however, the efforts of the independent Central Electoral Commission to act in a transparent manner throughout the election.

In the post-election period the UK calls on Azerbaijan to respect the right to freedom of assembly and peaceful protest. The UK and Azerbaijan have a strong partnership and we stand ready to support the Azerbaijan authorities on electoral reforms and improvements to the democratic process.

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