"REAL Party will definitely not be dissolved" - Ilgar Mammadov

Baku/20.07.23/Turan: The Justice Ministry sent a second letter to REAL (Republican Alternative) Party on 19 July due to the inspection of its register documents.

The Party gave explanations on each member of REAL Chairman Ilgar Mammadov told a press conference today.

According to him, the Party studied the information and found out that there were mistakes in "letters and figures" with regard to 2020 Party members about whom the Ministry of Justice found no information in the state register of population.

"There are flaws in this situation for both parties. It is the very state system that creates the confusing situation," Mammadov said.

The letter also points out that 986 people from REAL's list did not confirm their membership in the Party during the verification process based on phone calls.

"This is an absolutely ridiculous procedure that contradicts democratic foundations," Mammadov continued.

According to him, the Party interviewed several people mentioned in the letter of the Ministry of Justice and they said that they had not received any calls from the Ministry.

And some members of the Party said they had received calls from the Ministry of Justice, but they confirmed that they were members of the Party, Mammadov said.

He stressed that despite REAL's critical attitude to the new "Law On Political Parties", the organisation is ready for constructive cooperation with the Ministry of Justice.

He also said that from today REAL has started an active campaign to recruit new members to the Party.

At the same time, Mammadov noted that discussions are being held in the Party regarding further actions in case of liquidation of REAL's state registration.

"However, REAL Party will definitely not be dissolved," Mammadov said.

* The Ministry of Justice also recognised deficiencies in the registration documents of the two other opposition Parties - the People's Front of Azerbaijan and Musavat.

On 18 July, the Ministry stated that after the new Law requiring parties to have at least 5,000 members came into force, 31 parties announced their self-liquidation.

Note that other 28 parties submitted documents for re-registration.

** The new Law On Parties, which came into force on 11 January this year, has drawn sharp criticism from many opposition political parties. They believe that the new Law is aimed at limiting political activity and liquidating opposition parties.

Local independent experts in Azerbaijan believe that the newly adopted Law does not meet democratic standards and should be amended.  The CE Venice Commission and the OSCE ODIHR also gave a negative expert opinion on the document.  -03B06-