OSCE PA’s de Sena and Kiener Nellen to lead election observers in Azerbaijan

COPENHAGEN, 5 April 2018 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is deploying a mission of observers to Azerbaijan next week for the presidential election on 11 April. Nilza de Sena (MP, Portugal) will serve as Special Co-ordinator and leader of the 300-plus short-term OSCE observer mission, while Margret Kiener Nellen (MP, Switzerland) will serve as head of the OSCE PA delegation of some 40 members of parliament from more than 20 countries.

“Our OSCE observation mission is a joint undertaking of hundreds of people. As international observers, it is our task to report on the election process to the best of our capacity and knowledge. The short-term observer reports, together with the briefings, the findings of the long-term observers, and input from the parliamentarians with personal experience in elections and politics, will help us reach an objective, impartial and accurate assessment of the conduct of this election based on solid facts,” de Sena said today.

Nilza de Sena is Chair of the OSCE PA’s General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment, a position she has held since 2016. Previously, she served three years as Vice-Chair of the committee. Margret Kiener Nellen is the Head of Switzerland’s Delegation to the OSCE PA.

“I’m honored to lead the OSCE PA’s mission of observers to this important election, to show our solidarity with the people of Azerbaijan. As elected members of parliament, our observers can personally attest to the importance of holding democratic elections. The Assembly attaches great importance to each mission we undertake, and assesses all elections based on the same commitments agreed to in the OSCE’s 1990 Copenhagen Document,” said Kiener Nellen.

For the 11 April election, the PA will be working closely with the mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), led by Ambassador Corien Jonker, and with colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The joint findings of the observers will be delivered at a press conference in Baku on 12 April.

For more information on the OSCE PA’s election observation activities, please click here.