After a "thorough check", the Ministry of Justice "identified" only 463 members of the REAL party

Baku/17.07.23/Turan: Out of the list of 5118 members of the Republican Alternative Party (REAL) submitted to the Ministry of Justice for inclusion in the register, the department recognized 464 as "valid" belonging to the organization, the chairman of the party Ilgar Mammadov said.

On July 17, the Ministry of Justice received a response to the appeal of the REAL party to include members of the organization in the register, which is provided for by the new law. The Ministry of Justice concluded that 986 people listed in the list are "not" party members.

"It is further written that 1,058 party members have phone numbers indicating the party office numbers, which the Ministry of Justice considers "unacceptable." The Ministry of Justice did not find information about the names, surnames, and date of birth of 2,527 people in the state population register," Mammadov continued.

In the response of the Ministry of Justice, it is also indicated that the names of 68 persons are listed "repeatedly", and 16 people have died. "Thus, 463 members from the list of our party were recognized as "valid"," Mammadov said.

According to the party's legislation, it is necessary to "correct" information about 4,500 members of the organization within 30 days, or recruit the same number of new members, or dissolve the party.

Commenting on the response of the Ministry of Justice, Mammadov said: "The Azerbaijani authorities want to continue political shows with competitors that they have had for 30 years. The Azerbaijani authorities do not want to compete with the real republican opposition in the elections."

Mammadov noted that discussions will be held in the party's governing body and an appropriate decision will be made.

The ruling party of Azerbaijan wants to compete with the 30-year-old opposition, it does not want to compete with the new political forces." 

The Ministry of Justice could not be reached for comment.

The new law on parties , which came into force on January 11 this year , has caused sharp criticism from many opposition political parties . They believe that the new law is aimed at limiting political activity and eliminating opposition parties.

Local independent experts of Azerbaijan believe that the newly adopted law does not meet democratic standards and should be changed. The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the OSCE ODIHR also gave a negative expert opinion to this document. ---16D---