Doc. 8918

22 December 2000

Ad hoc Committee to observe the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan (5 November 2000)

Report

Bureau of the Assembly

Rapporteur: Mr Guillermo Martínez Casañ, Spain, Group of the European People's Party

Link to Addendum 1 / Link to Addendum 2

A.       Introduction

1.       The Republic of Azerbaijan applied for membership of the Council of Europe on 13 July 1996. The Committee of Ministers asked the Parliamentary Assembly to give an Opinion on the application in its Resolution (96) 32 of 11 September 1996. In its Opinion n° 222 (2000) of 28 June 2000, the Assembly recommended that the Committee of Ministers invite Azerbaijan to become a member of the Council of Europe.

2.       At the invitation of the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic, and according to the view expressed in Opinion N° 222 that the Assembly should observe the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly set up an ad hoc committee to observe the parliamentary elections to be held on 5 November 2000.

3.       The ad hoc Committee was composed as follows, on the basis of proposals of the Assembly’s Political Groups:

- Mr Andreas Gross, Switzerland, SOC, Chairman

- Mr Guillermo Martinez Casañ, Spain, EPP/CD, Rapporteur

- Mr Jacques Baumel, France, EDG, Rapporteur for the accession

- Mr Georges Clerfayt, Belgium, LDR, Rapporteur for opinion for the accession

- Mr András Bársony, Hungary, SOC

- Mr Björn von der Esch, Sweden, EPP/CD

- Ms Edeltraud Gatterer, Austria, EPP/CD

- Ms Jenny Jones, United Kingdom, SOC

- Mr Theodoros Kotsonis, Greece, SOC

- Mr Manfred Müller, Germany, UEL

- Mr Attila Mutman, Turkey, SOC

- Mr Enric Palmitjavila Ribo, Andorra, LDR

- Ms Vera Squarcialupi, Italy, SOC

- Mr John D. Taylor, United Kingdom, EPP/CD

- Mr Peter Weiss, Slovakia, SOC

- Mr David Wilshire, United Kingdom, EDG

- Mr Luis Yanez-Barnuevo, Spain, SOC

- Mr Benno Zierer, Germany, EPP/CD

Mr Bogdan Torcatoriu, Ms Marine Trévisan and Ms Hazel Bastier provided secretarial services. Mr Francesc Ferrer was in charge of relations with the media.

4.       The ad hoc Committee visited Azerbaijan from 2 to 7 November. Its programme is reproduced in Appendix 4.

5.       In response to letters of request from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan (18 and 21 April 2000), and further to the Assembly’s decision in Opinion No. 222 of 28 June, the Bureau had previously authorized the setting-up of a group of four consultants to assist the Central Election Commission in the preparation of the election. The group consisted of four former members of the Assembly, chosen in consultation with the Assembly’s political group chairmanships. It made three visits to Azerbaijan: 11-16 September, 23-28 October, and for the period of the election. The programmes of its first two visits and other related documents will be published separately. It reported thereon to the ad hoc Committee at the latter’s meeting in Baku on 4 November.

6.       The ad hoc Committee thanks the authorities of Azerbaijan and in particular, the National Assembly, for their assistance in organising the programme and for their hospitality. Thanks are also due to the Italian Ambassador, Mr Alessandro Fallavollita, who, as representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers, organised a meeting with the diplomatic representatives of the Member States of the Council of Europe in Baku.

7.       The ad hoc Committee also thanks the OSCE/ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) and the delegation of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly for their excellent co-operation throughout the visit.

B.       Previous elections

8.       On 12 November 1995 the Republic of Azerbaijan held its first parliamentary elections since regaining independence, as well as a referendum on a new Constitution. On 11 October 1998, presidential elections were held leading to the re-election of President Aliyev for a second term. Assembly ad hoc Committees had observed these elections¹.

9.       The parliamentary elections of November 1995 were held peacefully, but with a certain number of irregularities and clear cases of fraud. The presidential elections of October 1998, although marred by serious shortcomings, were considered as a step towards the democratisation of the country.

10.       The first municipal elections ever held in Azerbaijan took place on 12 December 1999 and, following cancellation of some results due to irregularities in one district of Baku and in 74 municipalities, on 26 March 2000. They were observed by a delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, which considered them as representing an essential first step towards democracy at local level.²

C.       The pre-election period

      a.       The legislative framework

11.       The main legislative texts on the electoral process are the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan (adopted by referendum on 12.11.1995 and came into force on 27.1.1996), the Law on the Elections (Election Law) to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan (adopted on 05.07.2000), the Law on the Central Election Commission (CEC Law) of the Republic of Azerbaijan (adopted on 09.06.2000), the Law on Political Parties, the Law on the Mass Media and the Law on Freedom of Assembly.

12.       The CEC Law and the Election Law provide for a comprehensive legislative framework for the conduct of the elections. The CEC Law in particular provides for a multi-party composition of the election administration. These two legislative texts, which incorporate recommendations from the OSCE/ODIHR and the “Venice Commission” of the Council of Europe, represent a clear improvement over the previous legislation.

13.       The three-tiered election administration is composed of the Central Election Commission (CEC), 100 Territorial Election Commissions (TEC) and some 5001 Polling Station Election Commissions (PEC). The CEC is composed of:

      - six members appointed by the parliamentary majority;

      - six members appointed by the so-called independent parliamentarians;

      - six members appointed by the parliamentary minority.

Decisions are taken by a two-thirds majority.

14.       The 125 members of the Milli Majlis (deputies) are elected by the citizens of Azerbaijan by direct and secret vote for a term of office of 5 years, on the basis of a mixed system:

- twenty-five mandates are allocated to candidates in one nation-wide multi-member constituency, on the basis of the proportion of votes cast for the lists of candidates presented by the political parties (proportional system), with a 6% threshold;

- one hundred mandates are allocated to candidates in single mandate electoral constituencies (majority system)³.

      b.       Registration of political parties and candidates

      i.       political parties (proportional system)

15.       According to the Election Law (art.40.2), registration of lists of candidates, submitted by political parties or blocks of political parties, requires the collection of 50 000 signatures of electors supporting the list from at least 75 constituencies.

16.       By 22 September 2000, the CEC had registered five parties⁴ to run for the proportional ballot. The applications of eight parties and blocs⁵ had been rejected on suspicion that some signatures on nomination papers were falsified. These signatures were invalidated and consequently the number of valid signatures fell below the 50000 required for registration. Four of the rejected parties appealed to the Courts, which upheld the CEC’s decisions. However, following a letter from President Aliyev published on 6 October 2000 stating that “as the refusal of registering political parties for the proportional ballot restricts to certain degree opportunities for people from all strata of the society to express freely their political views…[he] asked the CEC to reconsider its decision.” On 8 October, the CEC reversed its decision and registered all parties and blocs originally denied registration.

17.       The ad hoc Committee welcomed this decision which broadened the voter’s choice but considered that late registration affected the possibility of conducting a proper campaign and that the decision process was questionable.

      ii.       individual candidates (majority system)

18.       The registration of a candidate for the majority election in the respective constituency requires at least 2000 signatures of electors residing in the single-mandate constituency (art.39.2 of Election Law). For these elections, between 2 and 7 candidates were registered in the single-mandate constituencies.

19.       408 candidates out of 817 who applied were registered by the Territorial Election Commissions (TECs). Many candidates nominated by opposition parties and initiative groups had been rejected by the TECs, predominantly for alleged irregularities concerning the 2000 valid signatures required for registration. Many of these TEC decisions were appealed to the CEC or local courts.

20.       The ad hoc Committee regretted that the CEC failed to establish a credible and consistent procedure to verify voter signature petitions. As a result, at the TEC level, signature verification procedures were inconsistent and rejection of candidates seems to have been based on suspicion rather than facts. It is obvious that the election administration did not have the means to complete transparent verification procedures. Therefore, it is very important that this problem is taken into consideration for the next election, that the signature procedures will no longer be subject to arbitrary decision and that the registration of candidates should become a transparent and fair procedure.

21.       The ruling party YAP had 140 registered candidates, “independent candidates” numbered 147, whilst the sixteen other parties had a combined total of 113 candidates. On the latter, 40 were from the Popular Front, 28 from National Independence Party, 22 from Musavat, 4 from the Democratic Party and the remaining from other parties.

      c.        Voter registration

22.       In February 2000, the Head of the Presidential Administration issued a decree initiating a nation-wide computerized voter register from which polling station voter lists would be extracted. The ad hoc Committee considered that this operation represents a great step forward and should have improved the electoral process on polling day. Nevertheless, it is regrettable that the implementation of the project lacked transparency and specific legislation.

d.       The election campaign

23.       The election campaign marked an improvement over previous elections in that political parties were able to conduct their campaigns more openly and to meet with voters. They also had access to billboards, even if posters of the ruling party were predominant.

24.       However, the last days of the campaign were marred by increasing interference and pressure from the authorities.

e.       The media

25.       The media in Azerbaijan are regulated by the Constitution adopted in 1995, the Law on the Mass Media and the Criminal code. Censorship was abolished on 6 August 1998.

26.       Legal provisions for use of free airtime on the State media were respected. The State-owned television, AZTV 1, the only television channel to cover the whole country, applied this law and all political party representatives were allowed to present their platforms to the electorate and freely express their opinions.

27.       Nevertheless, outside the free airtime, the public media considerably favoured the ruling party. The coverage of the opposition was extremely marginal, about 1 % of political broadcast. All candidates were also able to buy extra airtime on the private channels, which tried to provide a more balanced coverage of the election campaign.

28.       Concerning the print media, a wide variety of opinions can be expressed in the written press and via the electronic media but they cannot compete with the television in term of dissemination of campaign information.

29.       During a meeting with representatives of the media, the ad hoc Committee was informed that problems in licensing of broadcast frequencies, inspection by the taxation offices, rise of the price of paper and questionable decision to close media created an uncertain environment and atmosphere of intimidation.

D.       Election day

30.       On 5 November the ad hoc Committee divided into eleven teams in Baku and various places within a radius of around 200 km from the capital. One team was deployed in the autonomous region of Nakhichevan. Each team visited an average of 15 polling stations to observe elections and observed the count in one polling station.

31.       On the whole polling took place in a calm atmosphere. There was even a festive spirit, especially in polling stations in provincial towns. Candidates’ and parties’ representatives as well as non-partisan observers also attended. Moreover, the voting system seemed to have been understood by voters.

32.       Members of the ad hoc Committee, together with most other international observers, reported low turnout which contradicts the official figure of 68.59% and the certified results. In numerous polling stations voting was marred by irregularities, many of them minor, some others very serious. Apart from the manipulated turnout figures, observers reported series of apparently identical signatures on voters’ lists, multiple voting and misuse of certain polling boxes (especially mobile ones).

33.       The counting process was also observed to be very chaotic, some observers eye-witnessing ballot box stuffing and some being refused access to the count. Observers also reported the production of false protocols and some protocols were not finalized at the end of the day.

E.       Preliminary assessment

34.       The day after the election, the ad hoc Committee held, together with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE/ODIHR, a press conference at which a joint statement was presented - see Appendix 1.

35.       It was recognized that the election marked progress over previous elections - in particular with regard to enhancing political pluralism. The newly-amended election legislation provided multi-party election commissions at all levels. The media coverage provided for a wide diversity of views, although the State media clearly favoured the incumbents.

36.        However, strong disappointment was expressed regarding the polling process and the serious deficiencies observed in regard to the implementation of the election legislation.

37.       There seemed to have been a clear manipulation of the electoral procedures. An appeal was made to the authorities to urgently investigate in an open and transparent manner all irregularities.

F.       Outcome

38.       Immediately following the press conference a joint Council of Europe/OSCE delegation called on President Aliyev, who announced that results had already been cancelled in one Baku district and that investigations would be made wherever needed. The Central Election Commission issued a public statement shortly thereafter (see Appendix 2) and this was duly welcomed in a further joint Council of Europe/OSCE statement (see Appendix 3). By the time of writing, results were cancelled in 11 districts, the commission chairpersons of these districts were dismissed, and three regional executive heads were dismissed “for illegal interference in the election process”; several criminal investigations were initiated by the Prosecutor’s Office. The official figures given below must therefore be interpreted with some caution.

i. Proportional system

Only four political parties exceeded the minimum 6 % of the vote required for representation in Parliament. The twenty-five seats to be filled would break down as follows, unless this part of the vote is also included in the re-runs in the 11 districts concerned and its outcome thereby affected:

New Azerbaijan Party (YAP)       17 seats        (62.45%)

Azerbaijan Popular Front Party        4 seats       (10.80%)

Civil Solidarity Party       2 seats        (6.31%)

Communist Party of Azerbaijan       2 seats       (6.28%)

Musavat Party       -        (4.91%)

Azerbaijan National Independence Party (ANIP)       -       (3.92%)

Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP)       -        (1.11%)

ii. Majority system

New Azerbaijan Party (YAP)       56 seats

Azerbaijan Popular Front Party        1 seat

Civil Solidarity Party       -

Communist Party of Azerbaijan       -

Musavat Party       2 seats

Azerbaijan National Independence Party (ANIP)       1 seat

Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP)       -

Independent       26 seats

Other parties       2 seats

39.       The official results for the proportional ballot, announced on 15 November by the Central Election Commission, were sent to the Constitutional Court for approval within 10 days. Six members of the CEC (2 from ANIP, 2 from Popular Front, 1 Musavat and 1 “independent”) refused to sign the protocol. The list of deputies elected through the majority system was transmitted to the Constitutional Court on 17 November by the CEC.

40.       Further to the cancellations in 11 districts⁶, the President of the Republic issued a Decree on 25 November stipulating that re-runs will take place on 4 January 2001.

G.       Provisional conclusions and recommendation

41.       Overall, these parliamentary elections represent a further step toward the democratisation of the country. It should be remembered that they are held when 20% of Azerbaijani territory is under armed occupation and up to 1 million refugees and displaced persons must be provided for.

42.       In particular, clear progress has been made with regard to political pluralism. In contrast with previous elections, all political parties were able to register for the proportional ballot. However, the late registration of eight of the parties eventually affected their ability to conduct the electoral campaign.

43.       The CEC Law and the Election Law provided a comprehensive framework for the conduct of the elections and a multi-party composition of the election administration. The two texts represent a clear improvement over previous legislation.

44.       The election campaign marked an improvement over previous elections. Nevertheless, it is regrettable that increasing interference from the authorities marred the last days of the campaign.

45.       Serious deficiencies in regard to the implementation of the election legislation left the ad hoc Committee with a strong feeling of disappointment. Procedures on election day were marred by serious shortcomings. In this respect, the elections fell seriously short of international standards.

46.       Our impression was that the staff in the polling stations were neither motivated nor trained to implement properly the election procedures. The stakes were such that, on the day, people forgot the rules in order to get the “correct” results. Such habits and reflexes date back to the long period of totalitarian rule.

47.        It follows that the implementation of democratic practices in Azerbaijan requires a radical change of mentality, which must actively be promoted by the authorities.

48.       It would seem that Azerbaijan is striving to strengthen its long-term commitment towards democracy. The Council of Europe must accordingly continue its co-operation and encourage the Azerbaijani authorities in the promotion and consolidation of democratic reforms.

49.       The decision of the CEC and the Constitutional Court to cancel elections in 11 constituencies and to call for the re-run of these elections on 4 January 2001 is a step in the right direction.

50.       On 9 November 2000 the Committee of Ministers decided to invite Azerbaijan, simultaneously with Armenia, to “become member states of the Council of Europe to be confirmed when the date of the accession ceremony is fixed” and “asked the government of Azerbaijan to present within a month a report responding to the criticisms made by the International Election Observation Mission in its statement of preliminary findings and conclusions made public the day following the elections of 5 November 2000 and to correct the reported fraud”. The President of the Assembly wrote on 16 November to President Aliyev (see Appendix 5) as well as to the President of Armenia.

51.       We recommend that the Parliamentary Assembly should send a delegation to observe the re-runs of the election in the 11 districts concerned on 4 January 2001.

52.       Beforehand, from 15 to 18 December, it is planned that the Chairman and Rapporteur of the ad hoc Committee should make a fact-finding visit to Baku with the Chairperson (or her representative) of the OSCE Parliamentary Delegation and the Director of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). It remains to be clarified whether the re-runs will include the “proportional” part of the election - which could be a significant factor for the strengthening of political pluralism and for the functioning of the new Parliament.

APPENDIX I

INTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION

PRESS RELEASE

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN AZERBAIJAN MARK PROGRESS, THOUGH FALLING SHORT OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

Baku, 6 November 2000 – The parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan mark progress over previous elections, though falling short of international standards, concluded the International Election Observation Mission in a joint statement of preliminary findings and conclusions (attached). The International Election Observation Mission is a joint effort by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR).

The international observers noted that progress was made in particular with regard to enhancing political pluralism. The parties and candidates had better opportunities to conduct their campaign, although an increasing number of obstacles were observed in the last few days. In contrast to previous elections, all political parties were eventually able to register for the proportional ballot, although the late registration of eight of them did affect their ability to conduct a full campaign. The newly-amended election legislation provided for multi-party election commissions at all levels. The media provided for a diversity of political views, although the state-owned media clearly spoke in favour of the incumbents. The elections took place within an improved legislative framework that incorporated recommendations by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR.

However, serious deficiencies were noted in regard to the implementation of the election legislation. The registration of candidates for the single mandate constituencies was substantially flawed and effectively barred approximately half of the candidates from running. This limited both voters’ choice and the right to be elected. In many instances the election commissions were subject to interference and pressure from the local executive authorities. The new provisions on domestic non-partisan observers are less liberal and a step back from the previous presidential election.

On election day, observers reported that voting was conducted in a generally calm atmosphere, but in contrast to the official figures the voter turnout was reported to be very low. The elections were marred by numerous instances of serious irregularities, in particular a completely flawed counting process. Observers reported ballot stuffing, manipulated turnout results, pre-marked ballots, and production of either false protocols or no protocols at all. Additionally, party proxies frequently suffered intimidation, harassment and sometimes even arrest whilst carrying out their legitimate activities. Unauthorized local officials often controlled the process and sought to influence voters. In several instances, international observers were denied access to polling stations and were frequently expelled from election commission premises.

The international observers express their concern of what seems to be a clear manipulation of electoral procedures. They appeal to the authorities to urgently investigate in an open and transparent manner all irregularities and to take appropriate action immediately.

Over the last decade Azerbaijan has emerged from a period of turbulences and war. Azerbaijan’s application to join the Council of Europe is now being considered. An invitation to join the Council of Europe is not a gesture of blind trust in a country’s political leadership. It is a stretched-out hand to the people of that country. It is an invitation to the people to join in the difficult task of promoting tolerance and human rights, of establishing democracy and stability.

MISSION INFORMATION

Ms. Paula Kokkonen, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office’s Special Representative for the Elections in Azerbaijan leads the OSCE Election Observation Mission. Mr. Nikolai Vulchanov heads the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission.

Mr. Andreas Gross leads the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission was established on 4 October in Baku with 17 international experts and long-term observers, covering all 99 constituencies throughout Azerbaijan. On election day, the International Election Observation Mission deployed more than 200 short-term observers, including 21 parliamentarians from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and 18 from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Observers visited more than 700 polling stations out of 5,000 across Azerbaijan.

The OSCE/ODIHR will issue a comprehensive final report on these elections approximately one month after the completion of the process.

For further information, please contact:

• Mr. Jens-Hagen Eschenbaecher, OSCE/ODIHR Public Affairs Officer, +49 603 683 122 (mobile), or Mr. Nikolai Vulchanov, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR EOM in Baku, Azerbaijan, +994 12 90 63 71;

• Mr. Jan Jooren, Press Counselor of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Copenhagen, or Tina Schon, Research Co-ordinator, + 45 33 37 80 40;

• Mr. John Hartland, Counsellor of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg +33 388 41 21 22.

APPENDIX II




APPENDIX III




APPENDIX IV

Programme

of the ad hoc committee to observe the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan

(2-7 November 2000)

Thursday 2 November

09.30-18.00       briefing session for short term observers (STOs) by the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM)

Friday 3 November

12.00       joint briefing with Delegation of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

15.00       Chairperson of the Court of Appeal, Julzar Rezayeva

16.00       Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Mazahir Panahov

17.00       meeting with NGO’s

- Support Committee for non–registered candidates

      - Organisation for the sake of civil society

      - Azerbaijan Center for defense of human rights

- Azerbaijan Foundation for democracy development and protection of

human rights

19.00       Ambassadors of Council of Europe Member States

Italian Embassy

Saturday 4 November

08.00       meeting of the ad hoc Committee

09.30       political party leaderships

      Popular Front

      National Independent Party

      Musavat Party

      Democratic Party

      New Azerbaijan Party

13.00       Speaker of the Parliament (Milli Majlis), Murtuz Aleskerov

14.00       lunch hosted by the Speaker of the Parliament

departure of teams deployed outside Baku

16.00       meeting with media representatives

17.00       President of the Republic, Heydar Aliyev

18.00       briefing by OSCE/ODIHR/EOM Director Nikolai Vulchanov

18.30       briefing session by OSCE long-term observers in Baku

Sunday 5 November

observation of voting and the count

Monday 6 November

09:30       resumed meeting of the ad hoc Committee

11:00       exchange of views with OSCE Parliamentary Delegation and the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission

16:00       joint press conference

Tuesday 7 November

announcement of provisional results by the Central Election Commission

APPENDIX V

Council of Europe

Parliamentary Assembly

The President

Strasbourg, 16 November 2000

[Your Excellency]

      Last week, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to invite Azerbaijan to become a member of the Council of Europe. I wish to congratulate you on this important event.

      The decision by the Committee of Ministers creates conditions for an early accession, provided that the Government of Azerbaijan complies with the requests to clarify and rectify the instances of fraud, reported by the international observers, including an Assembly delegation, during the elections.

      Measures adopted in this respect by your country’s authorities, and their subsequent follow-up, will be closely followed by the Assembly both before, and after the invitation to join is confirmed by the Committee of Ministers. Our Monitoring Committee is expected to begin its verification of compliance with commitments and obligations resulting from Council of Europe membership immediately after the accession takes place.

      I also wish to use this opportunity to express hope that your next meeting with the Armenian President, Mr Kotcharian, which, I understand, is planned to take place soon, will lead to further progress in the search for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

      The Assembly remains convinced that the accession to the Council of Europe will contribute to enhanced political stability in your country and in the region of South Caucasus as a whole. I therefore appeal to you, and to your governmental counterparts, to invest every effort in helping to bring the accession procedure to its earliest and successful completion.

[Yours sincerely,]

      [signed] Lord Russell-Johnston

His Excellency

Mr Heydar ALIYEV

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU

¹ See reports on the observation of these elections, respectively Doc. 7430, Addendum III and Doc.8256.

² See report on Local democracy in the Republic of Azerbaijan, by the Bureau of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, CG/BUR (6) 172, 10 May 2000.

³ Nevertheless, only 99 constituencies held elections on 5 November 2000, given to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The 100^th constituency being Khankandi, located in Nagorno-Karabakh did not hold elections and the seat will remain vacant.

⁴ Namely : Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party (YAP), Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Azerbaijan Milli Istiglal (National Independence) Party, Civil Solidarity Party and the Communist Party.

⁵ Namely : Musavat Party, Azerbaijan Democratic Party, Liberal Party, popular Democratic Party, National Congress party, the Party of Alliance for the Sake of Azerbaijan, Democratic World of Azerbaijan Party and one political bloc called Democratic Azerbaijan.

⁶ Yassamal n°2 (constituencies n° 7), Khatay (n°10), Sumgait (n°38), Agsu Kurdemir (n°51), Barda (n°56), Gussar (n°65), Imishli (n°68), Hadjigabul-Salyan (n°94), Katay n°1 (n°9), Astara (n°53) and Shemkir (n°99).