People do not believe in the municipalities, and do not understand why they are needed (video)

The head of the public association "Law and Development" Hafiz Hasanov said Turan results of municipal elections in Azerbaijan on December 23. According to him, these elections differed from  the previous ones  by being  very "quiet" and with extremely low participation  of population.

"The elections have demonstrated once again the need for major reforms in this area, improving the status of municipalities and the revival of the faith of the population in them,"  he said.

Another reason for lack of interest is  lack of understanding of the role of municipalities and their powers.

In addition, there remains a need to change the composition of election commissions, Hasanov said.

All this is the reason for the absence of international observers in the elections, as well as lack of faith in the transparency and fairness of the elections, said Hafiz Hasanov.

  "Azerbaijan has not fulfilled its obligations to the Council of Europe, Strasbourg ignored numerous calls to conduct real reforms in the field of local self-government," Hasanov said.

"As an expert, to observe the elections in 1995, I can say that now it is impossible to achieve democracy in the municipal and parliamentary elections," Hasanov said.

Referring to the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2015, Hasanov said he did not expect anything good in terms of voters turnout and international attention.

"The activity of the population will fall every year, as their  belief in the electionsalso falls ," said in the conclusion of Hafiz Hasanov. -03В/04-