President Vows to Ensure Democratic Parliament Poll

Baku Today / Assa Irada 13/08/2005 11:11

President Ilham Aliyev has vowed to ensure equal conditions for each
candidate running for the parliamentary elections due in November.

`We want to provide equal conditions for each candidate,’ President
Aliyev told the inaugural ceremony of a monument to the former
Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev in Sumgayit, 30 km west of Baku,
on Friday.

Aliyev called on local executive authorities not to interfere with the
election process. The pre-election situation in the country must be
more democratic and suitable conditions provided to hold rallies, he
said.

The President said that the international community is closely
following the upcoming legislative poll due to Azerbaijan’s being the
leading country in the region.

`We want the elections to be transparent. The Election Code and the
May 11 presidential decree on improving election practices allows
this.’

Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh,
President Aliyev said that defense spending increased by 76% in 2005
and will go up next year as well. `Not a single patch of Azerbaijan’s
territory will remain under Armenian occupation,’ he said.