Azerbaijan, Baku, 24 January / corr. Trend S. Ilhamgizi/ The mass demonstrations to be held in Azerbaijan in connection with the presidential elections will not run efficiently, Igbal Agazdeh, the chairman of Umid Party said.
"Whenever the opposition holds a mass demonstration, the Government intensifies its activities, reduces the opposition's capacity and creates difficulties in the communication aspect with the population," Igbal Agazade said Trend.
The regular presidential elections will be held in Azerbaijan in October 2008. Opposition parties Musavat, Umid and Great Establishment have announced that they will nominate their candidates. .
A mass meeting will not be a top priority for the opposition as different approaches will take place, Agazade said, but he did not divulge what they would be. "The people taking part in the demonstrations of any candidate are those who support that particular candidate and will vote for him in the elections. We consider that instead of wasting our energy on holding demonstrations it would be best to work efficiently with the remaining part of the population," Agazadeh said.
The largest demonstration for the presidency candidates held in 2003 presidential elections were the demonstrations held by Isa Gambar, the head of the Musavat party. However, four days after the demonstration, on 12 October, a day after the elections, the Musavat party resorted to aggression and came off second-best. Therefore I consider that the demonstrations will not be effective, he said.
Igbal Agazade, the chairman of the Umid opposition party is MP of the Azerbaijani parliament. He will be nominated in the presidential elections for the first time.
It is very important to hold demonstrations before the presidential elections, the Azerbaijan National Independence Party (ANIP) said. "The demonstrations are the best way for propaganda and the opposition parties must employ this method to be necessary," Ali Orujov, the secretary of ANIP on propaganda and press said Trend.
Once AINP takes part in the presidential elections with its own candidate, they will resort to mass demonstrations, he said.