Azerbaijan parliamentary elections held under political restrictions - OSCE ODIHR

BRUSSELS. Sept 3 (Interfax) - The European Union has called on Azerbaijan to comply with the recommendations of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation regarding its last Sunday's and previous parliamentary elections, the European External Action Service said in a statement on Tuesday.

"According to the OSCE ODIHR Election Observation Mission, the election took place within a restrictive political and legal environment that did not enable genuine pluralism and resulted in a contest devoid of competition," the statement said.

Despite the well-organized voting process and its overall rating as effective, "serious irregularities and omissions of important safeguards were observed, particularly in the vote count, raising questions about the integrity of the process," it said.

"The elections took place against the background of continued repression of dissenting voices," it said.

According to the results of the early parliamentary elections, the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party is winning 68 seats in the 125-seat National Assembly; independents, 45 seats; and representatives from nine various political parties, 12 seats, according to the latest data from Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission.

The turnout stood at 37.27%, 990 candidates fought for seats in parliament.