AZERBAIJANI EX-PRESIDENT ALLOWED TO SEEK DEPUTY SEAT
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Czech Republic
Sept 5 2005
5 September 2005 (RFE/RL) — Election officials in Azerbaijan’s
capital today authorized former President Ayaz Mutalibov to run as
a candidate in the 6 November parliamentary elections.
Mutalibov, who is wanted in Azerbaijan for his alleged failure
to prevent the loss of territory to Armenian forces during the
Nagorno-Karabakh war, has been living in Russia since his resignation
in 1992.
Another prominent political exile, former parliamentary speaker Rasul
Quliyev, was registered as a candidate last month.
The Council of Europe, of which Azerbaijan is a member, has long
demanded that both Quliyev and Mutalibov be allowed to take part in
Azerbaijan’s political life.
But the Prosecutor-General’s Office has warned that both men would
be arrested as soon as they come back to the country.
The secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, who is
on a visit to Baku, today insisted that the upcoming parliamentary
polls should be free and fair.