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Russia hopes to continue close dialogue with Azerbaijan after parliamentary polls

The voting took place on Sunday, February 9

MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russia wants to continue close dialogue with Azerbaijan after the early parliamentary polls in that country, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday.

"We congratulate our Azerbaijani friends on the successful elections, which only confirmed popular support to the reforms conducted by the Azerbaijani leadership towards democratization and modernization of the country’s socio-political life," the ministry said. "We hope that close and constructive cooperation in the spirit of friendship and Russian-Azerbaijan strategic partnership between Russia’s Federal Assembly (bicameral parliament - TASS) and Azerbaijan’s new parliament."

The ministry expressed regret that "observers from the ODIHR and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe were biased and subjective in their assessments, which have nothing to do with the real state of things."

Early parliamentary polls were called by President Ilham Aliyev in December 2019 after the parliament’s voluntary dissolution. The voting took place on Sunday, February 9. A total of 1,314 candidates vied for 125 parliamentary seats. As many as 883 observers representing 59 international organizations were accredited for the polls.

According to preliminary results of counting 100% of ballots, the ruling party Eni Azerbaijan led by the president will have up to 71 seats, or a majority, in the new parliament.

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