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2007 Assessment

Azerbaijan: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Azerbaijan: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Voting & Citizen Participation
Indicators		Score
14	Is there a legal framework guaranteeing the right to vote?	100
15	Can all citizens exercise their right to vote?	50
16	Are citizens able to participate equally in the political process?	80

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Is there a legal framework guaranteeing the right to vote?

14a: In law, universal and equal adult suffrage is guaranteed to all citizens.

Score:

YES

Comments: From a legislative aspect, there is a legal framework guaranteeing the right to vote. The legal base of this is based on Election Code approved May 27, 2003. The law guarantees the right to vote.

References: Reference: The Election Code of Azerbaijan Republic.

14b: In law, there is a legal framework requiring that elections be held at regular intervals.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to The Election Code of Azerbaijan Republic (article number 7.1.), elections for Parliament of Azerbaijan Republic, Presidential Post of the country and municipalities are mandatory. Based on The Constitution of Azerbaijan Republic, elections are held every five years (article number 84). Parliamentary elections are held in November every five years, according to the Constitution. Presidential elections are held in October every five years, according to the Election Code of Azerbaijan Republic (article number 178.1), and municipality elections are held in December every five years, according to the code (article number 211).

References: Reference: The Election Code of Azerbaijan Republic.

Can all citizens exercise their right to vote?

15a: In practice, all adult citizens can vote.

Score:

100

Comments: In both the presidential elections in 2003 and the parliamentary elections in 2005, the names of voters, especially those who supposedly supported opposition candidate(s), were not included in the voting list and were refused voter IDs. As a result, they were not able to vote.

References: Reference: Elections Monitoring Centers Reports (November,2005 and May,2007).

Peer Review Comments: Adult citizens were able to check their names on voting lists before election day. In practice, about half of them were able to participate in elections after they got the court approval on the same day they applied for it.

Peer Review Comments: In general, there is no legal barrier. However, this is a political issue rather than a legal one.

In many circumstances, the election precincts purposely exclude voters from the voter registries, or organize multiple votes in favor of a certain candidate.

15b: In practice, ballots are secret or equivalently protected.

Score:

100

Comments: According to The Election Code of Azerbaijan Republic, ballots are secret or equivalently protected (article number 103). The last elections show that despite the code's requirement, ballots are not secret and are not protected. During the elections, additional voting bulletins were put to the ballot, which changed the results of the elections.

References: Reference: Election Monitoring Center' Bulletins (2006-2007).

Peer Review Comments: I agree.

Peer Review Comments: Unfortunately, ballots aren't secret or equivalently protected. Governmental bodies can make any changes they want.

15c: In practice, elections are held according to a regular schedule.

Score:

100

Comments: All elections have been held in regular time in the last decade.

References: Reference: Election Monitoring Center's Reports (2007).

Peer Review Comments: The constitution stipulates the following: parliamentary elections must be held every five years, on the first Sunday of November; presidental elections must be held every five years, in the third week of October; municipal elections must be held every five years according to the order of the Central Elections Committee

Are citizens able to participate equally in the political process?

16a: In law, all citizens have a right to form political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to the Law on Political Parties (articles number 1 and 2), more than 1,000 supporters are required to form political parties.

References: Reference: Law on Political Parties.

Peer Review Comments: According to the Law on Political Parties, if 1,000 persons come together they can apply to the Ministry of Justice to form a political party. In practice, the government creates artificial problems to make the registration of a new political party more difficult.

16b: In law, all citizens have a right to run for political office.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to the Election Code (article number 3), without any discrimination according to ethnic, religious, language, social condition, position, thinking, political, trade unions and other public union membership, everybody who is more than 18 years old can run for municipality office; who is more than 25 years old can run for parliamentary office; and who is more than 35 years old can run for presidential office.

References: Reference: The Election Code of Azerbaijan Republic.

Peer Review Comments: According to the Article 55 (Right to Participate in the State Governing) of the Constitution, citizens have the right to participate in the government. They can implement these rights directly or via their representatives.

16c: In practice, all citizens are able to form political parties.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: While there is no guarantee of electoral success, political parties can form freely without opposition. <p>50 Score Criteria: Some barriers to formation are present, such as burdensome registration requirements that may not be fairly applied. Some parties\' political viewpoints may draw pressure from the government, such as surveillance or intimidation. Some political parties or organizations may have extra barriers to getting on a ballot. <p>0 Score Criteria: Some political parties are effectively barred from forming through some manner of official or unofficial pressure. This may include threats, arrest, or violence from competing parties or other groups.$

Comments: There is no serious problem to forming political parties in practice, however, the main problem is acting after registration, especially taking into consideration pressure from the government on opposition parties.

References: Reference: Reports of different political parties, including Azerbaijan People's Front Party, Musavat Party and Yeni Azerbaijan Party. www.azadliq.az

Peer Review Comments: No, there are serious problems in the way of forming political parties. The government doesn't want to see a large number of registered political parties.

16d: In practice, all citizens can run for political office.

Score:

100

Comments: Now there is no problem to run for political office in practice in Azerbaijan. The government, however, abolishes some candidates in the election process without any serious reason. For instance, some well-known candidates were dropped from the elections as a result of government pressure in the 2005 parliamentary elections.

References: Reference: Interview with Emin Aliyev, head of Democratic Changes Center in Salyan (July 2007).

16e: In practice, an opposition party is represented in the legislature.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The opposition party always has some influence on the proceedings of the legislature. The opposition party can introduce legislation or bring pending matters to a vote without the consent of the ruling party. <p>50 Score Criteria: The opposition party has influence on the proceeding of the legislature, but it is limited in scope. The opposition\'s ability to force votes or publicly debate certain topics may be limited. <p>0 Score Criteria: The opposition party has only token participation in the legislature\'s proceedings and cannot advance legislation or force a debate.$

Comments: There are about 10 representatives from different opposition parties in the parliament.

References: www.azerbaijan.az

Peer Review Comments: There are about 10 representatives from different opposition parties in Parliament, while the number of representatives from pro-government and the ruling parties is about 100. The government "allows" opposition parties to have at the most one or two representatives in Parliament.

Peer Review Comments: The opposition parties in parliament are weak. It is also unclear whether some of the opposition members are "true" opposition, or just puppets of the government.