Free airtime for election campaigning could not be less than 3 hours, will the Yeni Azerbaijan Party (YAP) use it?

The total amount of airtime provided for election campaigning cannot be less than 3 hours, the head of the Audiovisual Council, Ismet Sattarov stated  at  todays’ meeting dedicated to the issues of opportunities for election campaigning in early parliamentary elections and the basics of media coverage of the campaign. According to him, free airtime in parliamentary elections should be distributed on an equal basis.

According to the Electoral Code, parties whose candidates are registered in more than 60 out of 125 electoral districts receive the right to free airtime for campaigning. In the current elections, this criterion is met only by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party (YAP), whose candidates are registered in all districts.

At the previous early parliamentary elections, the YAP "generously" gave up this advantage in order to create "equal opportunities" for all political forces. The YAP has not yet announced a decision regarding the use of free airtime. Independent experts saw this as the intention of the authorities to hold elections in conditions of the lowest possible public interest in the campaign.