Opposition leader says upcoming election to mark “regime change” in Azerbaijan

ANS TV, Baku
11 Sep 05

Ali Karimli, leader of the opposition People’s Front of Azerbaijan
Party which is part of the Azadliq election bloc, has said the
forthcoming 6 November parliamentary election will mark the beginning
of a regime change in Azerbaijan.

Speaking to the “Otan Hafta” programme of the Azerbaijani commercial TV
station ANS, Karimli said: “I want to say openly that the peculiarity
of this election is that we are not fighting for only parliamentary
seats in this election. As a whole, we view this election as a
regime change. The first stage of the regime change should happen
in parliament.”

Karimli said the Azadliq bloc can gain at least 75 of the 125
parliamentary seats if the election is free and fair. But he doubted
the election will be democratic.

“The electoral commissions, which rigged 2003 presidential and 2004
local elections and which are headed by school principals and heads of
[government] offices, cannot hold a democratic election,” Karimli said.

The opposition leader urged the people to take to streets and fight
for their votes if the election is rigged.

“You should believe in changes,” Karimli said, adding that Azerbaijan
can be the next country of democratic changes.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress