Europarådets pressekorrespondent i de nordiske lande Arne Madsen Bremerholm 6, 4., DK-1069 København K Tlf. +45 33 14 15 84, Fax +45 33 15 54 84 E-mail: [email protected],Internet:   www.coe.int E-mail Pressemeddelelse til redaktionen Dato: 31. oktober 2005. Antal sider (inkl. denne): 1 Council of Europe parliamentary delegation to observe elections in Azerbaijan (6 November 2005) Strasbourg, 28.10.2005 – A 47   -member delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, headed by Leo Platvoet (Netherlands, UEL), will observe the 6 November parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan alongside observers from the OSCE and European Parliament. The delegation – the largest observation team ever deployed by the Assem  bly – will be in the country from 4 to 7 November. It will meet the authorities, representatives of parties contesting the election, electoral officials and members of civil society and will observe polling on the day of the vote. The observers will announce their conclusions at a final press conference in Baku on 7 November (time and place to be confirmed). Mr Platvoet, who headed a pre-election delegation which visited the country from 11 to 13 October, said he welcomed recent moves by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev to ensure transparent elections, including plans to ink voters’ fingers and his pledge to prosecute officials who interfere in the electoral process. “These respond to some of the recommendations we made to the President during our visit, and should contribute towards making these elections more democratic. This is a crucial opportunity for Azerbaijan to show it can uphold Council of Europe democratic standards which, as a member of our organisation, it has promised to do.” A member of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, which has assessed the compatibility of Azerbaijan’s electoral code with European standards jointly with OSCE/ODIHR, will also accompany the delegation. Link to a provisional list of the delegation Link to the full text of the pre-election statement Link to Venice Commission documents concerning Azerbaijan (a final opinion on the amendments to the Election Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan will be made available on the website on Monday 31 October) Contact: Communication Unit of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93 Fax +33 3 90 21 41 34; e-mail: [email protected] Nordiske medlemmer af delegationen: Fra Danmark: Hanne Severinsen (mobiltlf.nr. 33 37 45 12) og Morten Messerschmidt (mobiltlf.nr. 33 37 51 00) Fra Sverige: Carina Ohlsson, Michael Hagberg, Göran Lindblad og Helena Bargholtz Kontakt kan formidles via Angus Macdonald fra Forsamlingens kommunikationsenhed, mobiltlf.nr. 00 33 6 30 49 68 20.