Azerbaijan, Baku, 16 April / Trend corr S. Ilhamgizi/ Akif Shahbazov, Chairman of the Open Society Party, believes that the opposition candidates will not receive over 2.5% during the presidential elections this year. "Generally, the Azerbaijani opposition does not posses the power to exert influence upon the social and political processes," Shahbazov said to Trend .
Isa Gambar, the head of the Musavat party, said at the meeting with youth on 12 April that the political leaders, who will fail to receive 20-25% in the upcoming presidential elections, should think about leaving the politics.
The opposition parties Musavat, Umid, Great Establishment and the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan decided to nominate their candidates for the presidential elections, which will be held in the country in Oct 2008.
According to the Open Society Party, Gambar's statement is false. "The opposition candidate will not receive even 2.5%; leave aside 20-25%. Therefore, all opposition leaders should leave the politics. The mighty countries have strong opposition. The authorities of Azerbaijan have also played a role in bringing the Azerbaijani opposition to this state," Shahbazov said.
The Azadlig bloc, uniting three opposition parties, believes that Gambar's statement does not reflect the reality, because there are no favourable conditions in the country for the opposition to show its power.
"The elections in Azerbaijan are not held completely in a democratic manner. There is no opportunity to define the abilities of the opposition representatives. If the next presidential elections are not held democratically, the opposition candidates will protest against the official results. Each candidate will state that he received the largest number of votes," the co-chair of Azadlig bloc Ali Aliyev said to Trend .
"It would be good for Azerbaijani failed political figures to leave the politics, the way it happens in other democratic countries. However, it is unlikely to take place in near future because for the time being there is no climate for trying the real power and abilities of all the politicians," Aliyev said.