Azerbaijani CEC rejects Rustam Ibragimbekov as presidential candidate

Today, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan refused to approve the documents of Rustam Ibragimbekov, the presidential candidate from the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF).

The reason for the refusal, according to the CEC, was the presence with Ibragimbekov, along with the citizenship of Azerbaijan, also of Russian citizenship and his commitment to the Russian Federation.

As reported by Arifa Mukhtarova, the Secretary of the CEC, as to Ibragimbekov's Russian citizenship, a request was made to the Embassy of the Russian Federation.

According to Akif Gurbanov, a member of the party "Umid" (Hope), Ibragimbekov had formally requested the termination of his Russian citizenship; and it is possible that by the deadline for submitting signature lists the Russian authorities will grant his request. However, by the majority of votes, the CEC has refused to approve Ibragimbekov as a presidential candidate.

The CEC decision is politically motivated and aimed to remove at removing the main rival of the governmental candidate from the election, Zafar Guliev, an NCDF member and deputy head of the political movement EL (People), told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Let us remind you that the voting day at the presidential election in Azerbaijan is October 9. On August 23, Professor Jamil Gasanli from the Baku State University was elected a backup united candidate for the presidency from the NCDF.