Early Elections Aimed at Breaking Democracy - Opposition

Baku / 05.02.18 / Turan: The leader of Popular Front Party Ali Kerimli criticized the decision to hold early presidential elections in Azerbaijan. According to him, the opposition sharply criticized Aliyev's plans to run for presidency for the fourth time.

"The father and son have been leading the country for actually 45 years, which contradicts the principles of the republic. Ilham Aliyev knew that by October the opposition would prepare a long-term campaign against falsification of the elections. Therefore, he postponed the election to prevent protests and opposition demands for transparent, democratic elections. Aliyev does not want the pre-election period to be long and he has self-willfully shortened the pre-election period," Kerimli said in his commentary for Turan.

The head of the Musavat Party, Arif Hajili, called the decision on early elections "a hasty decision" and "elective operation" of Ilham Aliyev with the goal of extending his power for another seven years. He also believes this decision aims to put the opposition in time trouble and limit the time for preparing for elections. "Another reason for this "hasty" decision was the strengthening of internal contradictions in the government," he said. -06B71--