Opposition tends to go to parliamentary elections

Baku / 03.12.19 / Turan: Today, at the Musavat party headquarters, leading opposition parties with the participation of experts discussed the issue of participation or boycott of early parliamentary elections, which are expected to be announced after the decision of the Constitutional Court in connection with the dissolution of the current Milli Majlis of 1 December.

These were the first discussions in which the parties of the Popular Front Party, Musavat, REAL, Law and Justice took part. It is possible that the circle of opposition forces will be expanded, because it is open for discussion, said the head of Musavat Arif Hajili.

According to him, the authorities are preparing to hold elections in the coming months, but have not carried out any reforms to ensure their democracy. In his opinion, without creating normal conditions for the elections, the authorities are pushing the opposition to boycott them.

The head of the Law and Justice Party, Ali Insanov believes that all political forces should come out from a unified position. It is worth participating in the elections if normal conditions are created and the opposition has a chance of winning.

PFPA Deputy Chairman Seymour Hazi believes that his party is not against participating in the elections, but also believes that there must be at least minimal conditions.

The executive secretary of REAL, Natig Jafarli, believes that there is no alternative to participation in the elections and that the masses should be involved in this process.

“The rise to power goes through elections. They can take place in February-March and the authorities are unlikely to change the composition of the election commissions. The boycott is unlikely to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the elections. “The authorities want people not to go to the polls, so that the authorities comfortably falsify the results. Therefore, we need to massively attract people to the elections,” Jafarli said.

In general, most of the speakers considered it necessary to participate in the elections, despite the unfavorable electoral environment: undemocratic electoral legislation, the control of election commissions by the authorities, prohibitions on freedom of assembly and other restrictions.

The roundtable participants decided to continue consultations in order to determine the positions of each of the political forces in relation to the upcoming parliamentary elections. Firstl, amendments to the electoral law will be discussed and proposed taking into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission and other structures.

Parties that decide to participate in the elections will also seek to review the composition of the election and providing equal  conditions for all. —0—