Amendments to the law "On political parties" should not limit their independence

Baku/18.08.22/Turan: Against the background of amendments to the law "On political parties", there are proposals to change the Electoral Code.

Some parties believe that if a new law "on political parties" is adopted without changing the Constitution, as well as political and economic conditions, then at least the Electoral Code should be amended accordingly.

MP Agil Abbas told Turan that there is no need to make any changes to the Electoral Code: "What changes do they want? A proportional system? What about non-party then? We have a fairly democratic electoral system, so there is no need for changes."

Chairman of the "Motherland" Party, MP Fazail Agamali said that the preparation of a new law "On political parties" is currently on the agenda. “This is in the interests of all serious political parties. Political parties that really feel strong in themselves, actively participating in the political life of Azerbaijan, wishing to contribute to the political processes, should now actively participate in the process of preparing the law “On Political Parties”.

The Chairman of the Party noted that as society develops, all laws, in particular, the Electoral Code and even the Constitution of Azerbaijan, in special cases, through a referendum, are amended. “In the future, such changes to the Electoral Code are not ruled out. If there is a need to improve it, steps will be taken in connection with it. Let someone not try to overshadow the preparation of the draft law “On political parties” under the pretext of any questions.”

According to the MP, the President of the country Ilham Aliyev is the author of these reforms. “Starting from 2018 and to this day, the reform of economic, social, political, legal, public processes, civil-state relations has been steadily continuing. All this will be taken into account in the course of the reforms carried out by Mr. President, and legislative acts will be adopted to ensure the development of society, meet new challenges, and enhance the place and role of political parties in our political system.”

Deputy Chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan Seymour Hazi said that the laws on political parties, on the media and the Electoral Code of the OSCE participating countries must comply with the standards of the Venice Commission. “There are standards of the Venice Commission regarding the creation, functioning and termination of the activities of political parties, and there are also such standards regarding the Electoral Code. Here we are talking about the inadmissibility of restricting the activities of political parties.”

The deputy chairman of the party believes that in all cases the law should stimulate the activities of political parties, their multiparty membership and the participation of parties in political processes. “If the next law becomes even more reactionary, like the previous changes, if the political parties are spoken to in English, if it is enriched with provisions that guide their activities, then this will be a reactionary law. Because any law cannot put forward conditions for any political party related to its activities.”

According to him, it is the responsibility of political parties to continue their activities in accordance with the Constitution and international obligations.

The head of the Musavat Party, Arif Hajily, said that if the authorities really have the political will to carry out political reforms, then these reforms should not begin with amendments and additions to the law “On political parties.” “First of all, it is necessary to amend the Constitution. The constitution should restore many of the limited rights of citizens. The restoration of a proportional electoral system in connection with parliamentary elections, as well as the restoration of the repealed provision that one person can be elected head of state more than twice, and a number of provisions providing for fundamental human rights in the country, should be included in the Constitution by referendum.

According to Hajily, one of the most important issues is to change the electoral code. “Because the current electoral code does not allow holding democratic elections. In fact, the full control of the authorities over the election commissions was enshrined in the Electoral Code, which needs to be changed. Only after that, by making certain changes to the law "On political parties", we can talk about the implementation of some political reforms in Azerbaijan."--0--