Azernews.Az

By Trend

The Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan has presented an interim report in connection with the municipal elections to be held in the country Feb. 9, 2020, Trend reports Dec. 14.

Chairman of the Association’s Election Headquarters Maharram Zulfugarli participating in the event, said that the organization announced a plan of action in connection with the municipal elections at the beginning of the year, the implementation of which began in February.

“We continue observation,” Zulfugarli said. “As part of these measures, monitoring was carried out in connection with the pre-election situation in Azerbaijan, the activities of the Central Election Commission on municipal elections and the media.”

“The stable socio-political situation in Azerbaijan, the situation in the field of freedom of assembly, speech and press, the level of preparation for the elections and the activities of the election administration create fertile ground for holding democratic and transparent elections,” the chairman added. “This is confirmed by the events held in Azerbaijan in recent years. The meetings between the chiefs of the General Staffs of NATO and Russia are a good example of the above mentioned.”

Zulfugarli said that according to the monitoring results, the total share of news about the elections was 40.8 percent, and from December 1 to December 13 - 54.77 percent in Azerbaijan, which is an indicator of the media’s interest in the elections.

“There are no problems with registering candidates,” the chairman noted. “About 30 percent of candidates are women. The number of women candidates in Azerbaijan is gradually growing. Over 300 candidates under the age of 20 have been registered. Monitoring was conducted on two opposition, two pro-government, two independent newspapers and two news agencies.”

Zulfugarli noted that the pre-election situation in Azerbaijan remains stable.

The head of the election headquarters also raised the issue of freedom of assembly, noting that reports of a ban on campaigns of the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party, the so-called National Council and the Musavat Party are lies.

“They were allowed to hold a campaign in the designated place,” Zulfugarli added. “They neglected this and tried to hold an unauthorized campaign in the city center. Holding of unauthorized campaigns is contrary to the law and caused discontent among citizens.”

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