Azeri opposition leader says president ordered party's registration withdrawal

• Published in: BBC Monitoring Central Asia p. 1
• Format: Newsletter
• Language: English
• Published: London BBC Worldwide Limited 22.01.2003
• Subjects: Cassan, Martinez; Cooperation; Councils; Human rights; International organizations; International relations; Karimli, Ali; Litigation; Parliamentary elections; Politics; Presidential elections; Registration; Television stations; AZERI

The chairman of the reformist wing of the People's Front of Azerbaijan Party - PFAP, Ali Karimli, has accused the president of ordering the registration of a party faction as the sole legitimate PFAP. Speaking to the private TV station ANS, Karimli said that this reflected the authorities' wish to weaken their rivals ahead of the 2003 presidential polls. Speaking about Europe's position on this, Karimli said that the Council of Europe would not remain "indifferent" and if the party's lawsuit was turned down by the Azerbaijani court, it would "easily" win in the European Court for Human Rights. The following is an excerpt from report by Azerbaijani TV station ANS on 21 January: [Karimli] Today we met the ambassadors of the EU countries, i.e. the British, French, German, Italian and Greek ambassadors attended this meeting. We mainly discussed two issues. First, the situation around the registration of our party. We had a long discussion on this subject. I reported details, and they of course regretted them. They said that they would continue cooperating with us in future and observe future trials. They said that they were not indifferent to this process and would continue previous contacts with the PFAP. At the same time, we discussed the OSCE-initiated round tables between the authorities and the opposition. You know that we have not attended these round tables because we called for the establishment of the coordinating commission between the authorities and the opposition in order to influence decisions. Our dispute over the coordinating commission dragged on so the second round table was postponed. They [ambassadors] have certain new proposals. A meeting will be held tomorrow in the coordinating centre of the opposition and we will discuss them. The OSCE has already planned this event for 23 January in its [Baku] office. We discussed this issue at today's meeting with the EU countries' ambassadors. [Karimli] That is impossible. First, you know that when I was outside Azerbaijan, in Britain, the coordinating centre of the opposition held an extraordinary meeting and issued a decisive statement on this. I thank my colleagues in the opposition in this regard. A special decision was also made that if Hasanquliyev represented the PFAP at the OSCE-sponsored meetings, the opposition as a whole would not attend them. In this case, these round tables will fail. I am very pleased that this decision will not be applied because the OSCE representatives themselves have sent invitations to us. That is why I think that such a situation is not possible.