Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend S.Ilhamgizi / One of the organizers of the conference in Baku, the Chairman of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, Sergey Kuznetsov, expressed his attitude towards the refusal of four opposition parties to participate in the discussions regarding amendments to the Electoral Code of Azerbaijan. He reported to Trend that the Venice Commission and IFES will continue co-operation and the discussions on the Electoral Code will take place widely.
Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Democratic Party, Liberal Party and Musavat Party do not participate in the discussions because the event is organized by IFES. The parties consider that IFES has lost the confidence of democratic forces due to its attitude to the elections in Azerbaijan.
Kuznetsov said that the round table is a good tool to discuss election issues. According to him, the Venice Commission stated earlier that the conference will give an opportunity to hold joint discussions on the election legislation and find solutions to the problems. "We invited everybody to the discussions. If these parties do not participate in the elections, it means that they have made such decision. We hope that wide range of political forces will express their attitude during these meetings," he said.
Speaking of parties protesting against IFES, Kuznetsov said that IFES is the partner of the Venice Commission. According to him, the Commission has been co-operating with IFES for long and trusts on this organization. "We do not have any pretensions against IFES. We will continue co-operation in this format and organize joint meetings in Azerbaijan," he said.
