Giovanni Di Stasi, president of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRA) of the Council of Europe (CE), said on 13 February that one of Azerbaijan’s main areas of concern should be the decentralization of state power, noting specifically that mayors must be elected by their respective local constituencies, bakutoday.net reported the following day, citing Turan. "This is one of the main requirements of the European Charter…which Azerbaijan has joined," Di Stasi said at a press conference. According to a 9 February CLRA press release, Di Stasi’s visit was to focus on the arrangements for a rerun of elections in the 135 municipalities where the results of the December 2004 elections were invalidated, as well as on the promotion of local democracy in Azerbaijan through the creation of a National Association of Local Authorities and on the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. (www.bakutoday.net, February 14; wcd.coe.int, February 9)