The Venice Commission gave a negative opinion on the Law "On Political Parties". Will the law change?

Baku/16.03.23/Turan: The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights have published a joint opinion on the new Law of Azerbaijan "On Political Parties". The document says that the new law "has introduced a number of new problematic provisions that may have a restrictive impact on pluralism in the country."

The Venice Commission, the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights remind that the right to freedom of association and freedom of speech are fundamental to the functioning of a democratic society.

State control over political parties should be limited to this. Therefore, extensive State control over the internal activities of a political party, including the requirement to provide lists of its members to the State, is an extreme measure incompatible with the principles of necessity.

Suspension and dissolution of political parties may be applied only in the case of the most serious violations of regulatory legal acts and in other extreme cases.

The Venice Commission and the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights suggest that the authorities eliminate these shortcomings.

This is what the chairman of the public association "Center for Law and Development" Hafiz Hasanov says on the air of the program "Difficult Question".

According to him, the Venice Commission, in its conclusion on the new Law "On Political Parties", expressed its attitude to almost all the issues on which representatives of civil society, political parties and the expert community expressed concern during its discussions.

"It seems that the Venice Commission is familiar with both the political, legal and the real situation in Azerbaijan in general. After conducting a serious analysis of this law, it gave a general forecast of how problems it will create in the future. I think this is an extremely professional, comprehensive conclusion. Conclusions are based on the analysis of the legal environment, the political system, the activities of parties before registration. They cover almost all the provisions of this Law. That is, in addition to the analysis, forecasts and specific proposals are given here," Hasanov said.

In his opinion, in the conclusion of the Venice Commission, the new Azerbaijani Law "On Political Parties" as a potential threat to political pluralism in Azerbaijan, as a regression, and in this regard, the document expresses serious concern.

According to Hasanov, there was no objective need for the adoption of the new law.

"The Law on Political Parties of 1992 was quite acceptable," the expert noted.

Assessing the conclusion of the Venice Commission, Hasanov said, "I consider the conclusion objective and unbiased, serving the development of the Azerbaijani statehood."--0-