CIS hails Azerbaijan's work to hold open and free elections

"The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan has done an excellent job of ensuring well-organized, open, and free elections."

Report informs that Viktor Guminsky, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Head of the CIS Observation Mission, made the statement commenting on the level of elections in Azerbaijan.

"It is noticeable that the CEC and lower-level executive commissions did an excellent job for the elections to be well-organized, open, free, and democratic. We see that the commissions know what they're doing and do everything under national legislation," he said. Guminsky added that the elections in Azerbaijan involve a large number of candidates this year.

"The figure is almost twice as high as in previous elections. It shows that people have greater confidence in the legislature and are not indifferent to the fate of their country and its prosperity. "

According to him, the preparations for the elections were held in a calm atmosphere.

"We started our work on January 19 - this is a long-term mission. In total, we have 252 observers from 8 countries. Our observers visited more than 20 regions of Azerbaijan. I was in Guba and Shamakhi yesterday," Guminsky said.