OSCE Mission Recorded Forcing Citizens to Take Part in Rallies in Support of Ilham Aliyev

Baku/03.10.13/Turan : Ilham Aliyev is during the election campaign in a more advantageous position than the other candidates for the presidency. This conclusion follows from the second interim report of the OSCE ODIHR observation mission for the presidential elections on October 9.

In general, as the authors of the study say, the election campaign of candidates for president of Azerbaijan is not based on political platforms , and is based on the identity of applicants for the post of head of state and is characterized by a lack of thorough debate.

In the second report , covering the period from 13 to 26 September , it is noted that the electoral campaign continued in a quiet channel, but there was worsening of the atmosphere due to the abuse of family members of some politicians .

With regard to the technical preparation of the elections , the report noted that the CEC observes the statutory period .

Noting the participation of 10 candidates in the elections , the report draw attention to the refusal to register 4 more candidates. The latter consider unreasonable refusal to register them on the basis of "assumptions" about the falsification of signatures in favor of them.

For the conduct of free campaigning on public television each candidate is allocated three times a week for 6 minutes. However, two candidates were dissatisfied with the conduct of television appearances in the form of round tables.

Restrictive measures in the legislation and, in addition to this, appeal by the CEC not to campaign or respond to propagation narrowed the opportunities for in-depth coverage of the campaign by the media .

At the same media monitoring shows that, compared with other political activity the incumbent president (Ilham Aliyev) is highlighted more in the news.

Despite the fact that the president does not personally lead the campaign , he continues to travel across regions, further stated in the second interim report of the ODIHR observation mission .

The observation mission has monitored 21 campaign events in support of candidates , of which 17 were in favor of the President of Azerbaijan.

In this case, there were 3 cases of forced participation in rallies by NAP.

On 20 and 23 September OSCE observers witnessed in the Qax and Shemakhi areas that during the propaganda activities of NAP participants were not allowed to leave the meeting before it was completed.

Students in Mingachevir told that on September 25 teachers told them not to leave the campaign event until it was over.

Campaigning for other candidates is weak.

Some candidates have complained about the obstacles from officials in the regions to provide them with offices and facilities for meetings.

Total for campaign events there have been allocated 152 indoor and outdoor places. Some candidates find them unacceptable for meetings with voters.

After the meeting on September 22 , was arrested the son of the leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan ( PFPA) Ali Kerimli, Turkel Kerimli, and two protesters.

In addition, there was an attack and wounding of the 16 -year-old son of a member of the electoral headquarters of the candidate from NCDF Oktay Gulaliyev.

The report also focuses on making the CEC prevent the presidential candidate of NCDF Jamil Gasanli .

In particular, it states that after the televised debate on September 19 , which was much discussion of approval of property abroad by members of the incumbent's family , the CEC issued a warning to Gasanli, relying on Article 106 of the Constitution which prohibits insulting the honor and dignity of the president.

However, as noted in the report, according to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights to provide persons holding public office with special protection from defamation is a restriction of freedom of expression.

The report also points to the refusal to grant J. Gasanli air time on public television on a paid basis with reference to the expiry of the application deadline for political advertising on commercial terms.

The report also points to the deterrent effect of the CEC warning to the media about the inadmissibility of agitation and counter-agitation in support of candidates, or campaign coverage in the media, commenting on the theme of the elections. -06D -