Jamil Hasanli: the election campaign is not equal for all

Baku/16.09.13/Turan : Contrary to the desire of the authorities to remove  the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) from the political arena, this structure, as a  model unifying model opposition, confirmed its viability said at the press conference the presidential candidate of the NCDF Jamil Hasanli .

"The National Council was established as a model  unifying the opposition, and in its center is a prominent representative of public opinion in Azerbaijan, Rustam Ibrahimbayov. The other day, a delegation of the National Council  visited the United Kingdom  and  had meetings with representatives of the political establishment, experts and human rights activists. Rustam Ibrahimbayov, for some reason, could not come to London, but the day before we met him in Tbilisi, and discussed election strategy.

Rustam  Ibrahimbayov said that he will continue to lead the election strategy," said Hasanli.

According to him, Ibrahimbayov called a provocation reports by some media that he wants to resign from his post  of the head  of the NCDF. Referring  to the election campaign which started on September 16, Hasanli said  there are unequal opportunities . "For us, today begins the election campaign, and for Ilham

Aliyev, it started with the announcement of this date. Every day, television stations dedicate him a few hours. This is motivated by the fact that he is the current president.

But in fact he  is a candidate for the presidency. To give the coverage of the current activity of the  head of state it is sufficient to show news stories for 30-40 seconds, instead  of showing him for hours. 

We are not against the increase of salaries of the population , but if it is done on the eve of the election,  it means that one of the contenders uses  public resources in  his  favor," said Hasanli.

Answering the question how Hasanli sees the  future of Azerbaijan in  case if he wins elections, , he said that first of all it is a country with a just society, the rights to a decent life , integrated into the Euro-Atlantic space. Hasanli condemned the foreign policy of the current government because of Azerbaijan's accession to the Non-Aligned Movement .

"The country, 20 % of  territories  of which are occupied, should not be involved in the Non-Aligned Movement," said Hasanli , noting that Azerbaijan should have good neighborly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with neighboring countries.

Referring to the Karabakh conflict, he expressed the opinion that this issue has become for the ruling elites of the two countries a tool for maintaining power.  For 20 years Aliyev’s regime has  not released even 20 meters of occupied lands, he said.

As for the electoral tactics , the co-chairman of the electoral headquarters  of Hasanli , head of the Supreme Majlis of PPFA, Hasan Karimov said that the NCDF has no representatives in election commissions. It was therefore decided to delegate one member of an advisory capacity, as well as observers  to all 5,000 polling precincts, and 125 district election commissions.

He also called a serious violation of the electoral law the distribution on first day of the school year,  a book for students and teachers "Baku: 2003-2013" which praises Ilham Aliyev. The publisher of the book is  the Ministry of Economic Development. Karimov  believes that the participation of the Ministry in the   election campaign is a  serious violation of the law. This book could be published only at the expense of the election Fund  by Aliyev.

The other co-chairman of the electoral headquarters of Hasanli, deputy chairman of "Musavat", Gulaga Aslanly, told about unfavorable sites designated for rallies. "In reality, these places  have been  allocated  by the Baku executive power, not by the CEC. We will officially ask that the CEC  establish places for  the election agitation.—06D--