Azeri opposition calls on the population to ignore elections

Today, the forum of opposition parties has called on Azeri voters to ignore the October 15 presidential election. The opposition already considers the election undemocratic.

Due to the large number of participants, the forum of opposition parties which boycott the presidential election in Azerbaijan has grown into a meeting at the square in front of the "Musavat" party office. The action was organized by the block "Freedom" ("Popular Front of Azerbaijan" party, Liberal party and the party of "Citizens and Development"), "Musavat" and the forum "In the Name of Azerbaijan" with the aim of assessing the results of the five years in office of  president Ilkham Aliev. Lack of interest towards the election in the society has been noted in speeches.

"There is no interest towards the presidential election for two reasons: it is a show rather than an election, and the real opposition refuses to take part in it. But even in the absence of serious competitors, the authorities fail to observe democratic norms. This is connected with the anti-democratic character of the ruling regime which pathologically hates democracy", says Kerimli, leader of the "Popular Front of Azerbaijan" party.

Assessing the activity of the authorities during the last 5 years, opposition activists state that there has been no progress in any sphere of life in the country. "Moreover, according to the estimates of many international organizations, Azerbaijan has moved from the category of partially free to the category of non-free countries", states Ali Aliyev, leader of the party of "Citizens and Development".

An address to the Azeri people has been adopted on the basis of the Forum results. It states that the policy of the authorities "does not meet the profound interests of the Azeri people or the international standards of democracy ". In this connection, the authors call on the voters to ignore the election.