VZCZCXRO6116
RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHKB #0459/01 1371214
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161214Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5309
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0943

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000459 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM AJ
SUBJECT: OSCE BAKU HOLDS FIRST ELECTION BRIEFING FOR 
AMBASSADORS 
 
REF: BAKU 454 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On May 7, OSCE Baku Head of Mission 
Herrero Ansola held the first of planned monthly election 
briefings for OSCE member states.  He briefed the OSCE 
members on logistics for the October presidential election, 
including the likely 11 candidates, as well as planned OSCE 
technical assistance.  Herrero Ansola outlined pending 
changes to the electoral code and law on freedom of assembly 
and highlighted continuing, serious problems in the media 
environment as a key issue that will affect the conduct of 
the election.  Several OSCE member states also expressed 
concern about GOAJ legal action against the Election 
Monitoring Center (reftel).  We welcome the OSCE Baku 
Office's stepped-up coordination activities.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On May 7, OSCE Baku Head of Mission Jose Luis 
Herrero Ansola held the first of a series of election 
briefings for the Ambassadors of OSCE member states with 
representation in Baku, as well as representatives of 
international organizations including the United Nations, the 
European Union, and the Council of Europe.  Herrero Ansola 
said that OSCE Baku would hold these meetings once a month 
until the immediate pre-election period, at which point they 
may take place more frequently.  He said the purpose of the 
meetings was to exchange information on the pre-election 
period, and to explore areas of potential cooperation.  (The 
OSCE also is organizing regular, working-level election 
assistance coordination meetings.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Herrero Ansola briefed the group on election 
logistics, noting that per the current electoral code, the 
GOAJ must officially announce the election date 120 days 
prior, and the campaign period would start 60 days prior. 
(NOTE:  We understand that Parliament may change the draft 
amendments to the electoral code to require the GOAJ to 
announce an election 60 days prior, and to reduce the 
campaign period to 21 days.)  Herrero Ansola said there were 
11 potential presidential candidates:  incumbent President 
Ilham Aliyev; Umid Party Chair Igbal Agazade; Azerbaijan 
Democratic Party Chair Sardar Jalaloglu; Great Creation Party 
Chair Fazail Gazanfaroglu; Musavat Party Chair Isa Gambar; 
Muasir Musavat Party Chair Hafiz Hajiyev; Green Party Chair 
Mais Gulaliyev; Civil Solidarity Party Chair Sabir 
Rustamkhanli; Whole Popular Front Party Chair Gudrat 
Hasanguliyev; Azerbaijan Public Forum Leader Eldar Namazov; 
and Azerbaijan National Independence Party Chair Etibar 
Mammadov.  He also noted that the Azadliq bloc and the Open 
Society Party might boycott the election. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Herrero Ansola said that the draft amendments to the 
law on freedom of assembly and the electoral code soon would 
be discussed in Parliament, and noted that the changes needed 
to be adopted by May in order to provide adequate time to 
train election officials on the new procedures.  He outlined 
OSCE Baku's planned election activities, including training 
local authorities and election commission members in election 
procedures; funding a voter education program through the 
Election Monitoring Center; training domestic election 
observers; training ITV broadcasting staff; conducting a 
series of roundtables on the role of media in elections, and 
between police and media representatives; and conducting 
joint public assembly management training for police officers 
(to which the USG also is contributing).  Council of Europe 
(COE) Special Representative to Azerbaijan Denis Bribosia 
said that the COE was planning election assistance in two 
areas:  training election officials and supporting the media. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Herrero Ansola said the group must watch to ensure 
that freedom of assembly be allowed equally to all 
candidates.  He noted the need to monitor media coverage on 
Azerbaijan's seven television networks, which he said were 
supposed to cover all candidates.  The group also needed to 
monitor the problem of interference in elections by local 
authorities, he said, emphasizing that only election 
officials should be involved in election processes.  Finally, 
he underscored the need for serious support of democracy in 
Azerbaijan, in order to "avoid the mistakes of others in the 
region."  Herrero Ansola explained that OSCE Baku's mandate 
and programs were completely separate from that of 
OSCE/ODIHR, as was ODIHR's official assessment of the 
election.  He said that in order for ODIHR to send election 
monitors, the GOAJ first must send an invitation letter to 
ODIHR.  At that point, he said, ODIHR would send a team to 
assess observation needs for this election, and would then 
field short- and long-term observers. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The group briefly discussed the Ministry of 
 
BAKU 00000459  002 OF 002 
 
 
Justice's case against the Election Monitoring Center. 
(NOTE:  This briefing was prior to the court's May 14 
decision to deregister and shut down the NGO.)  Norwegian 
Ambassador Jon Ramberg expressed his concern over recent 
public comments by the GOAJ that were critical of the USG's 
planned election assistance activities.  Ambassador Derse 
noted that there is a range of views in the GOAJ on this 
assistance and the U.S. remains committed to providing 
planned support for free and fair elections this fall. 
Ramberg pointed out that the GOAJ's negative attitude could 
have implications for others planning election assistance 
programs.  None of the other states present reported 
experiencing such problems.  Herrero Ansola set the next 
election briefing for June 2. 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT:  Under Herrero Ansola's leadership, the 
OSCE Baku Office has greatly stepped up its coordination 
activities.  We greatly welcome his initiative, which stands 
in marked contrast to the OSCE Baku Office's role in the 2005 
parliamentary elections. 
DERSE