New law on political parties discredits Azerbaijan - I. Mammadov

Baku/11.01.23/Turan: On January 11, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a new law "On political parties", which caused sharp criticism from the country's opposition forces.

The leader of the "Republican Alternative" party, Ilgar Mammadov, negatively assessed the approval of the document.

“Exactly two months later, by March 11, the Venice Commission must submit its opinion on this law. The signing of the law before the examination of the Venice Commission and without taking into account its recommendations means that the opinion of the commission will be extremely negative,” Mammadov said in a comment to Turan.

In his opinion, the two laws adopted by the authorities - on the media and on political parties - will discredit Azerbaijan in the eyes of the international democratic community.

“If someone wanted it, then he achieved his goal,” Mammadov noted.

According to critics of the law on political parties, it significantly restricts the rights and freedoms, including freedom of assembly and expression.

So, to register a political party, it must have at least 5,000 members. If their number drops to 4,500 people, then a lawsuit is filed with the court to cancel the state registration of this party.

A register of members of political parties will also be maintained. That is, all data about party members should be in the public domain. Political activity without state registration is not allowed. Donations to political parties during the year cannot exceed 35 times the minimum wage (currently 10.5 thousand manats).

The opposition regards all these norms as the desire of the authorities to legitimize the restriction of political activity and the liquidation of opposition parties.

On December 14, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided on an urgent assessment of this law by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. ---03B06---