Imaginary Memo to the EU Election Observation Mission
Lets be clear. The basic reason the Opposition will lose the Dec. 4th parliamentary elections is that more people want to vote for the government than for the...
Lets be clear. The basic reason the Opposition will lose the Dec. 4th parliamentary elections is that more people want to vote for the government than for the Opposition. Denying this would be an idle exercise in buck passing – though one so comfortable for Oppo leaders, we can be sure we will hear it. For too long, the Opposition has used CNE’s partiality as an excuse to avoid the work of building up its political support. Until it does that, it won’t win an election even if a gaggle of angels is put in charge of CNE.
With that proviso firmly in mind, it’s also important to understand that CNE is not run by a gaggle of angels. The list of grievances with the Elections Authority has grown longer, not shorter, since last year’s referendum. At the moment, the key items are:
It’s true that even without these various manipulations, the government would still win the election. That does not make them acceptable. Hopefully, the EU elections observation mission will take note.
Just last week, the OSCE produced a harsh report on the Azerbaijani elections for irregularities roughly comparable to those outlined above, despite the fact that the Azerbaijani government would likely have won those elections even without fraud. We urge the EU EOM to apply European standards consistently.
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