NKR: ELECTION PROCESSES ABSENT IN AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.10.2008 14:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Chairman of the NKR National Assembly Standing
Committee on state and legal affairs Garik Grigoryan issued a
commentary on the election situation in Azerbaijan.

"The characteristic feature of democratic election is, first of all,
healthy competition between the authorities and the opposition. The
election process in Azerbaijan passes quite the contrary. There are
enough presidential aspirants; however, all of them, except for the
incumbent president, play the role of passive observers. And it is
not accidental that interest in the elections both in political and
in wide public circles is insignificant, and it is obvious that the
elections will be uninteresting and predictable. Everything is so
predetermined that, in fact, it is useless to vote. It is no wonder
that the majority of the respondents in the capital of Azerbaijan
cannot call the names of all the presidential candidates," he said.

"The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) observation mission reports limited public interest in the
elections. The ODIHR observers connect it with a perceived lack of
genuine competition. The document, in particular, reads that the
president has been touring the country extensively in his official
capacity and it is difficult to distinguish between his regular
activities and his campaign. At that, it is particularly emphasized
that the Baku municipal authorities interpreted provisions of the law
"On Freedom of Assembly" in a restrictive manner when they refused
the request of opposition parties boycotting the election to be
allocated a venue for an outdoor meeting in central Baku. EU Special
Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby also stated the
fact that there was not a hint of elections in Azerbaijan.

At the same time, many international organizations prefer to observe
how constitutional rights are being violated and democratic freedoms
are suppressed in Azerbaijan. Implementing a policy of "double
standards" the West considering itself a defender of human rights and
freedoms, voluntarily or not, furthers this country’s moving far away
from the pan-European standards. It produces an impression that the
West is ready to waive "the democratic principles" in favor of their
mercenary interests in Azerbaijan, and the election processes became
for them only an instrument of influence and fractional currency in
political game," Grigoryan said, the NKR MFA press office reported.