Official Speeches and Remarks by Ambassador Anne E. Derse

US Ambassador remarks at Gafgaz University

23 May, 2008

Ladies and gentlemen, dear students thank you for inviting me today to discuss the US-Azerbaijani relationship. President Aliyev has stated that Azerbaijan conducts relations with its partners on the basis of “equality, mutual respect, and mutual interests.”   We agree.   The U.S. is a partner and a friend of Azerbaijan.   We have great respect for Azerbaijan, its history, its culture and its people.  We respect and support Azerbaijan’s status as a sovereign, independent nation which conducts an independent foreign policy based on national interests.  We applaud Azerbaijan’s significant accomplishments in its first 15 years of independence, especially given the many challenges Azerbaijan faces in a difficult and strategic region.  We believe that Azerbaijanis, and only Azerbaijanis, have the right to determine Azerbaijan’s future.   We respect and support Azerbaijan’s strategic choice to deepen integration with European  and Euro-atlantic structures as the right choice to ensure Azerbaijan’s independence, prosperity and freedom today and in the future.  And we recognize Azerbaijan’s great potential to develop as a leader in building stability, prosperity and freedom in this region, and globally as well.

The United States shares many interests with Azerbaijan. We are partners in the global war on terror, and we appreciate Azerbaijan’s contributions in support of defeating terror and building freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We are partners in energy security, and we applaud Azerbaijan’s  policy of supporting global energy security  as both an energy producer and as a key transit country for Caspian energy resources. 

My country believes, however, that the strongest partnerships are those that are built not just on shared interests, but also on shared values.   And for the American people, there are no values more important than the promotion of freedom, democracy and human rights.  History shows that nations built on these values, over the long term, are the most stable, peaceful and successful in the world.  And our national experience shows that over the long term, nations built on these values are the best partners.

We believe the Azerbaijani people share these values, reflected in the Azerbaijani constitution, in Azerbaijan’s many commitments to the UN, COE, OSCE, EU and NATO, and in Azerbaijan’s stated policy goal of developing as a modern democracy.

This year, a Presidential election year in both our countries, is a special year with respect to our shared values.   For this reason, I would like to talk to you today about U.S. views of elections in a democracy.   First, I would like to underscore that while every country has unique characteristics which are reflected in its approach to democracy, all truly democratic nations uphold certain fundamental principles and respect certain fundamental rights, including with respect to elections.

Most importantly, all truly democratic nations recognize that citizens possess fundamental and inalienable rights, including the right to equality before the law; the right to freedom of movement; the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association; and the right to take part in the governance of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

All truly democratic nations recognize that the people are the rulers.  The people give their leaders a mandate to govern on their behalf, and a responsibility to defend their rights and freedom, through the conduct of free and fair elections.  Democratic nations recognize that the people have the right to change their leaders peacefully through the conduct of free and fair elections.  

Azerbaijan is a young nation that is building its democracy and strengthening its democratic processes, including its electoral processes.   What are the core elements needed for it to succeed?  

First of all, free and fair elections in a democracy are not simply about the casting and counting ballots on election day.  Elections in a democracy are about giving the people a choice –  to choose national priorities, to choose policies to implement them, and to choose leaders to develop and execute them.

Having a choice means having the right to critically examine competing ideas, competing visions, and  competing leaders, and an open process to choose the ones you, the citizen, think are right.  In a democracy, criticism of government leaders or government policies is not treason.  It is a fundamental part of the democratic process of giving citizens a choice.

To guarantee this choice, citizens also must have the right to meet, to associate, as informal groups or as organized political parties, to examine problems and ideas and to develop alternative, even competing,  approaches.   Alternative political leaders and their supporters must have the right to freely and peacefully assemble and express their views, and to seek to win support for them .

To guarantee this choice, citizens must also have access to information and competing views.  A  free media must give reasonable and open access and coverage to all candidates seeking to communicate their platforms and debate ideas during the campaign before the election.  The free media has a great responsibility to present information objectively to the people, and not be a tool of the government or any individual politician or party.   The free media also has a great responsibility to distinguish between objective reporting of information, and critical analysis and commentary in support of, or in opposition to, any particular political view. 

Adherence to international standards for electoral processes is important to the fair and free conduct of elections.  Before election day, this includes citizens’ ability to register to vote, and candidates’ ability to register and conduct campaign activities unfettered. On election day, it is critical that election officials follow procedures as outlined in the electoral code, from the opening of the polling station to the tabulation of the last ballot, including accurately reflecting the people’s choice in the master protocol.

After election day, once all the votes are cast and counted, there will certainly be problems and irregularities.  There are no perfect elections, after all.  The most developed democracies, including my own, experience such problems.  But in all democratic nations, there are mechanisms to address and correct such problems.  A vigorous and independent media should help bring the problems to light.  A complaints and appeals process should provide a means for voters and candidates to register their concerns without reprisal.  And independent courts, when necessary, use the rule of law to annul results, overturn outcomes, and insist on recounts. Citizens should also be able to gather peacefully to register concerns with the electoral process or the election results.

Today, Azerbaijan is working to establish the conditions for free and fair elections.  Not just on election day, but in the pre-election and post-election period as well.   The Milli Majlis is examining draft amendments to the law on freedom of assembly and amendments to the electoral code.  We hope changes meeting international standards will be approved soon, to remove existing obstacles to free association and assembly and allow political leaders to organize, campaign and present alternative views and rally their supporters, and to allow citizens to exercise their constitutional right to assemble and freely and peacefully express their views.

The media, today, is under severe pressure.  Steps are needed to ensure the print and broadcast media can freely give proper coverage to the issues and candidates and to report on competing ideas and the conduct of the elections, without fear of reprisal.  

Committed efforts to address these issues are essential to ensure free and fair elections on October 15, in our view.   Free and fair elections require all of the basic conditions that are critical to the day-to-day functioning of democracy --  freedom of speech and media,  freedom of association and assembly, independent courts and the rule of law.

The United States wants Azerbaijan to succeed in its goal of developing as a modern democracy and regional and global leader.   We want to see Azerbaijani citizens enjoy the rights that citizens in all democratic nations are guaranteed.   We want to see a strong, independent, prosperous and democratic Azerbaijan that is a strong friend and partner of the United States.  These goals are within Azerbaijan’s grasp, but require hard work.  Free and fair elections in 2008 meeting the highest international standards will strengthen Azerbaijan’s democracy, its independence and its international influence.  We are committed to help, both supporting efforts to undertake difficult reforms, and by standing by the Azerbaijani people as they exercise their democratic rights. 

We will maintain an open dialogue and friendly relations with all political parties and leaders, but we will neither endorse nor support any of them in Azerbaijan’s electoral contests.   We will support the development of democratic values, democratic processes and democratic institutions, and the exercise of democratic rights.  And the United States will work with any government that is democratically elected by the people of Azerbaijan. 

Ultimately, democracy in Azerbaijan does not depend on the United States, or any other country or organization.   It depends on the Azerbaijani government and the Azerbaijani people.  Only the  citizens of Azerbaijan can demand and exercise their inalienable right to liberty.  We stand ready to assist and champion the democratic values that are so dear to Americans, to Azerbaijanis, and to the citizens of all democratic nations.

Young people like you are the future of Azerbaijan. The US believes in Azerbaijan’s future as a strong, independent and democratic country as a partner of the United States of America. Thank you very much for inviting me here today.