The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) delegation currently visiting Baku issued a statement on 16 September listing its concerns over the country\'s ongoing presidential-election campaign. They said the composition of the Central Election Commission (CEC), 10 of whose members are nominated by political parties loyal to the authorities and five by opposition parties, \"is a source of major concern,\" and called on the CEC to \"take urgent steps to meet the requirements of the election law.\" They advocated that the outcome of the ballot be made public immediately, even though the Election Law provides for a delay of 48 hours. They criticized \"the heavy media bias in favor of the incumbent president and his supporters,\" and noted numerous complaints by opposition candidates and NGOs of harassment and intimidation by the authorities. They said the resulting \"prevailing climate of overall political mistrust...creates a tense if not explosive political situation,\" and called on the authorities to use the remaining four weeks before the ballot to create equitable conditions for all candidates in order to ensure the election is free and fair. (Turan)