Democratic Party of Azerbaijan refuses to participate in parliamentary elections

On September 16, the Presidium of the Supreme Mejlis of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (DPA) overturned the decision to participate in the November 1 parliamentary elections. The abolition of decision was motivated the absence of conditions for political rivalry and refusal of the ODIHR OSCE to monitor the elections.

"Elections are held at the background of the further deterioration of Azerbaijani relations with democratic institutions of the United States and Europe. As a result, the ODIHR OSCE refused, for the first time since 1995, to observe the parliamentary elections. The country has no conditions for democratic political rivalry and open debates on television and radio. When there is no real pre-election atmosphere of fair competition, there is no sense of participation in the elections," said Sardar Djalaloglu, the DPA leader, in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Along with that, Djalaloglu said that members of the DPA are free and independent in making their decision about participation in elections, but in this case they may be nominated on an individual basis, not on behalf of the party.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.