AZERBAIJANI AUTHORITIES DECIDE TO HOLD ELECTIONS IN KARABAKH
By Alman Mir – Ismail
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
The Jamestown Foundation
Aug 19 2005
Although the Azerbaijani constitution sets the number of national
parliamentary seats at 125, the actual number of deputies in the
Azerbaijani parliament has always been 124. The empty seat belonged
to district 122, located in Khankendi (Stepanakert), the capital of
Karabakh, which is currently under the control of Armenian military
formations. The loss of sovereignty over this territory has prevented
the Azerbaijani authorities from holding nation-wide elections there.
Not any more.
On August 12, the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan voted
in favor of restoring election district 122 and constituting its
district election commission (Echo, August 13). Mazahir Panahov, the
chairman of the CEC, believes that this act is aimed at restoring the
constitutional rights of the citizens of Azerbaijan. Official Baku
considers the Armenian residents of Karabakh to be its citizens. This
decision therefore opens opportunities for them, as well as for the
ethnic Azerbaijanis deported from Khankendi, to vote for the first
time since the 1994 ceasefire.
“Until this time, efforts to do this have not been made. The CEC has
received many complaints about this. Both commission members as well
as the public have supported this decision. It is up to the citizens
now to exercise their constitutional rights,” Panahov added (525-ci
Qazet, August 17).
It is estimated that 10,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis have become Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Khankendi, and they currently reside in
Baku and surrounding areas. The Azerbaijani election code does not
have a minimum turnout requirement to make elections valid. Thus,
even if the Armenian residents of Khandenki boycott the elections,
participation by the Azerbaijani IDPs would be sufficient to legitimize
the results.
At the moment, it is not clear where the district election commission
will be based and how they are planning to encourage the ethnic
Armenian residents of Khankendi to vote. Plans call for the CEC,
which has six members, including one ethnic Armenian, to prepare
an appeal to all ethnic Armenians to exercise their constitutional
rights. The CEC will also consider some produces to allow them to
vote electronically. CEC secretary Natig Mammadov has said, “From
now on the Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian ethnicity, living in
Nagorno-Karabakh can vote” (525-ci Qazet, August 13).
Meanwhile, on August 16 the opposition daily Yeni Musavat reported
that two candidates have been already nominated from this district.
One of them is Isi Bagirov, the former deputy chief of the Khankendi
air conditioner factory. Bagirov claims that he has had good relations
with Armenian residents in Khankendi, including the current self-styled
“president of the Nagorno-Karabakh republic,” Arkady Gukasyan, as
well as with Armenian President Robert Kocharian, who also comes from
Karabakh. Bagirov’s candidacy is supported by the united opposition
coalition Azadliq (Freedom). The other candidate, Seymur Bayca,
is running as an independent. The number of candidates will likely
increase in the next week.
Interestingly, the CEC decision has the support of all interest
groups in Azerbaijani society, including the most radical ones. Akif
Nagi, chairman of the Karabakh Liberation Organization, the most
pro-war civic organization in the country, has also welcomed the
move. “Our organization proposed this idea last year, during the
municipal elections,” says Nagi, “but at that time the CEC refused
our proposal. Now, the decision of the CEC once again showed that
Khankendi is an Azerbaijani town and that Nagorno-Karabakh is the
territory of Azerbaijan. If Karabakh Armenians respect Azerbaijani
laws, then their rights and freedoms will be provided. Just like
their election rights have been provided for” (Sherg, August 17).
Another independent expert on elections, Eldar Ismaylov, head of
the NGO “For the Sake of Civil Society,” also believes that the
decision of the CEC was right. “This decision carries more of a
propaganda purpose. Even if this time it will be impossible to hold
elections there, it can be important for the future elections” (Sherg,
August 16). Ismaylov also believes that electronic voting will not
be sufficient, because not many ethnic Armenians in Karabakh have
access to the Internet.
The Armenian residents of Khankendi will probably not participate in
this vote. But for official Baku, the importance of the situation
is more symbolic. Azerbaijani authorities want to show to the
international community that they are pursuing a policy of engagement,
rather than antagonizing the Armenian community of Karabakh. Thus,
the situation is more political than practical. As negotiations
over the Karabakh conflict continue in a positive course and both
sides report some general agreements on certain issues, Azerbaijan
wants to show to the Armenians that it is open to co-existence and
mutual compromise. Similarly, last week the management of the newly
established Public TV in Azerbaijan decided to produce programs in
the Armenian language. These efforts will eventually demonstrate that
the rights of Armenian minority are not violated in Azerbaijan.
Besides, with this act, Azerbaijani authorities seek to reduce the
legitimacy of the “election” previously held by the unrecognized
authorities of Karabakh. In the past, both the CEC and the Foreign
Ministry of Azerbaijan, as well as international organizations such as
the Council of Europe, UN, and OSCE, have criticized these unofficial
elections, saying that they “hinder the peace process.”