Azerbaijan, Baku, 3 July / corr. Trend E. Babayev/ The demands of the Azerbaijani opposition for the News program of the state-owned AzTv channel not to cover reports related the Azerbaijani President during the election campaign is wrong. "The events and meetings held by the head of state are official news," Nushiravan Maharramli, chairman of the National Radio and TV Council of Azerbaijan (NRTC) said on 3 July.
On 2 June, the Azerbaijani Parliament passed supplements and changes to the Election Code of Azerbaijan. According to the changes, the election campaign can not be carried out through the state-owned media. Some opposition parties think that there must be restrictions on the reports about Ilham Aliye, the current head of state and candidate from the ruling New Azerbaijan party.
According to Maharramli, it is wrong to ban broadcasting of the official news in AzTv. "The meetings held by the head of state are part of his activities and are of official character. The propaganda materials are totally different from the official news. NRTC will exercise over these issues," Maharramli said.
The presidential elections in Azerbaijan will be held on 15 October 2008.
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