Blogger Mekhman Guseinov claims electoral competitor's attempt of bribery

Azerbaijani blogger Mekhman Guseinov accused Faradj Guliev, the leader of the "National Revival Movement" Party, of trying to bribe him to withdraw his candidacy at the early parliamentary elections to be held on February 9.

Mekhman Guseinov and Faradj Guliev are running in the 31st Surakhany second polling district. The Azerbaijani blogger made public an audio record of the conversation, in which Faradj Guliev offered him money to withdraw participation in the elections.

"He promised to appoint me as his assistant and to help create a youth organization. Faradj Guliev offered me to attract my team to his side. He mentioned the amounts of 10,000-15,000 manats and even higher and veiled that with supposed help for treatment. I could not help making the audio public. Let the voters know who represented them in the parliament and still wants to be elected there," Mekhman Guseinov said.

The blogger noted that on February 3, he sent official appeals for verification of the audio record to the Surakhany district election commission, the Central Election Commission (CEC), and the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan.

Faradj Guliev denied the allegation and said that he was offering money for the Mekhman Guseinov's treatment.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 3, 2020 at 02:09 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.