“Azerbaijan should pass democratic evolution, as the people of Azerbaijan deserve it,” Madeleine Albright, the head of the Board of Directors of the National Democracy Institute (NDI) organization, also former U.S. Secretary of State,stated to a news conference Baku on Thursday.
Touching upon the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan Alright underlined not only the process of voting, but also the pre-elections period in the country is very important.
According to Albright, the key peculiarity of the democratic society is active structure of the opposition. В"I know what is opposition, as I am in opposition in my country,” Albright noted. The politician stated that the following terms must be observed in Azerbaijan for holding democratic elections: provision of freedom of assembly, freedom of word, freedom of activities of political parties, independent activities of NGOs, monitoring of elections process through local and international observation groups.
According to the former U.S. Secretary of State, every country has own experience in political development and the Azerbaijani elector should himself make its choice.
В"I believe the democracy in Azerbaijan will develop in a peaceable way вЂ" through the development of political parties and free elections,” Albright stressed
She noted that the international community, including the United States, attaches great importance to Azerbaijan for several reasons. В"Azerbaijan has an important geo-strategic position, being located between the big countries. It possesses dynamically developing economy. The same time it has a new leader, while the parliamentary elections will be held in the country in November,” she underlined.
The same time Albright noted that she has never stated that democratic elections could mean a suicide for the Azerbaijani authorities. She voiced her confidence that the friendly relations between Washington and Baku will be continued.
