Azerbaijan, Baku, 28 January / corr. Trend S. Ilhamgizi/ The opposition Islamic Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (IDPA) is against boycotting the presidential elections. Tahir Abbasli, the chairman of IDPA said to Trend.
The regular presidential elections will be held in Azerbaijan in October 2008. The bloc Azadlig which unites three opposition parties has announced that should the political situation in the country not change and the democratic harmony is not settled, it will boycott the presidential elections.
According to the IDPA chairman, "Taking into considering the previous years' experience, we decided that boycotting the elections is not in Azerbaijan's interest. We feel that should the opposition have a good reputation and the public have great confidence in them, then boycotting the elections would have a positive effect," Abbasli said.
According to Abbasli, there is no need to believe the powers which state that they will boycott elections as they can make their decision anytime. The foreign powers would also be interested in the boycott of elections, the chairman of the party said.
By deciding to boycott the elections, the opposition will gain nothing, Abbasli said, "On the contrary should they participate in the elections they would develop through these processes each year in that the public would see that the opposition is prepared to fight and therefore real competition exists. By not taking part in the elections we eliminate the competition and as a result, hinder society's development," Abbasli said.