Following an invitation from the Azerbaijani Gov¬ernment, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institu¬tions and Human Rights (0D1HR) deployed an election obser¬vation mission to the 15 October presidential poll in Azerbaijan.

The mission, headed by Ambas¬sador Boris Frlec of Slovenia, includes 12 core team members and 28 long-term observers from 23 OSCE participating slates. The elec¬tion observation mission will be joined by approximately 450 short term observers just before election day.

The ODIHR observers will assess the entire election process in terms of its compliance with OSCE commit¬ments and other international stan¬dards for democratic elections, as well as national legislation. The mis¬sion will focus on the legislative framework and its implementation, the work of the election administra¬tion and relevant government bodies, the election campaign and the media coverage, the access of domestic observers and the resolution of elec¬tion-related disputes.

ODIHR has requested that OSCE states contribute 450 short term observers for election day itself. The short term observers will be deployed in teams of two throughout Azerbai¬jan to monitor the opening of polling stations, voting and counting of bal¬lots and the tabulation of the results.

ODIHR has observed several elec¬tions in Azerbaijan, including 2005 parliamentary elections and the 2003 presidential elections and the 2000-2001 parliamentary elections. The office has also issued several opin¬ions and reviews of electoral legisla¬tion of Azerbaijan together with the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.

"A preliminary evaluation will be given jointly with PACE observers on the day after the voting," Fries; said. "At the end of October the mission aims to complete its work, and two months later it will release a final report summing up the results of the monitoring. It will also give advice on how to improve the election pro¬cedures."

Frlec said the mission will not evaluate the legitimacy of the elec¬tions and their political results but added that "The final report will objectively reflect the situation. The parties and their leaders decide whether to participate or not in the elections. I am not authorized to dis¬cuss any questions connected with the reasons or consequences of this matter." He also said amendments had been made to the Election Code recently, and one task of the mission would be to check if the election leg¬islation was really and effectively observed.