Baku: activists of ReAl, "Nida" and Islamists support oppositional presidential candidate Gasanli

The participants of the today's several-thousand-strong oppositional rally in Baku have expressed their support for the presidential candidate from the oppositional National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) Jamil Gasanli. Speakers at the rally called on citizens to take an active part in the voting on October 9 – the president election day. In his turn, a source from the ruling party "Yeni Azerbaijan" said that the rally was a failure; and people did not support the opposition, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Erkin Gadirli, the head of the Majlis of the Movement "Republican Alternative" (ReAl), which is not a member of the NCDF, also expressed support, on behalf of his organization, to Jamil Gasanli. He conveyed the appeal of the ReAl leader Ilgar Mamedov, who is in custody, to vote for Gasanli.

The journalists who were present at the rally have noted a slight increase of the audience compared to the rally on September 22 and estimated the September 28 audience from 8 to 12 thousand people.

According to Siyavush Novruzov, the deputy executive secretary of the ruling party "Yeni Azerbaijan", this oppositional rally was "even more shameful than the previous one." In his opinion, the audience was twice as small as at the previous rally.

"If they hold another one, nobody will come there at all. They have no social base. They invite their relatives, party functionaries and employees of their controlled press. People don't support them," Novruzov said during the debates on the Public Television.