Interfax News Agency, Russia
May 4 2008
BAKU CRITICIZES U.S. FOR ATTEMPTING INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS
U.S. funds put into presidential election programs in Azerbaijan could
be qualified as interference in the country’s internal affairs,
presidential chief of staff Remiz Mekhtiyev said.
"I, as a citizen of Azerbaijan, see this as interference in
Azerbaijan’s internal affairs. Has Azerbaijan or any other country the
right to fund or control elections, say, in the United States, or in
Britain? No, it hasn’t. Then why should this take place in Azerbaijan?
I don’t think this is normal," Mekhtiyev told journalists.
Earlier reports said that, the U.S. government had announced it was
ready to make more than $2 million available to support Azerbaijan’s
efforts to hold "free and fair presidential elections" in October.
The aid declared implies support in strengthening political parties
and the electoral system, election monitoring, work to perfect the
procedure of processing complaints, the monitoring of the election
returns, parallel vote counts as a measure to make elections
transparent, broadcasting political debates in Azerbaijan and the
United States, and training programs for law enforcement personnel in
order to assert the freedom of assembly principle.
Mekhtiyev described as baseless claims that bread was in short supply
in the regions. "These claims are absurd and baseless. Some opposition
newspapers write that, bread shortages instigated protests in some
places. All this is an empty lie which aims to deceive people and to
upset stability. Azerbaijan has a sufficient supply of food, he said.
Mekhtiyev criticized U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s
assessment of Azerbaijan’s democracy record.
"Rice’s statement is based on unreliable information and is not
serious, in my opinion," Mekhtiyev said.
What the U.S. secretary of state said suggests that while the
political situation and other problems have been resolved brilliantly
in Georgia and in Armenia, Azerbaijan remains a backward regional
country, he said.
"By Rice’s logic, if our country is to win any appraisal from her, the
situation in Armenia in February-March must repeat itself in
Azerbaijan," Mekhtiyev said.