NKR: election processes absent in Azerbaijan

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.