Azerbaijan, Baku, 18 July / corr. Trend E.Babayev / The oppositional Musavat party of Azerbaijan will take into consideration not only interests of the party while taking decision on participation in the presidential elections. "We must take into consideration not only the party's interests, but also Azerbaijan's interests on democratic development," Sulheddin Akber, the speaker of the Majlis of Musavat, told Trend on 18 July.
The presidential elections in Azerbaijan are scheduled for 15 October. The Central Elections Commission (CEC) will officially launch the election campaign and announce an exact date of the elections at the end of July. Musavat nominated Isa Gambar, the chairman of the party, for the presidential position in December 2007. Musavat began discussions to review its decision on participation in the elections, after injection of supplements and changes into the Elections Code by Milli Majlis (the Azerbaijani Parliament) on 2 June. Gambar said that at present most members of the party are for the participation in the elections.
According to Akber, discussions are being held on tense conditions. Absence of a good version makes the complicated. "We try to choose less harmful version among the worse and harmful," he said. Akber noted that Musavat intended to complete next week discussions over its participation. "Perhaps, we will come closer to a final decision on this issue at a meeting of Musavat's Divan on 21 July. A final decision will be taken at Majlis on 2 August," he said.
Oppositional Musavat party was established at the beginning of 1920s and it was re-established in 1992. Isa Gambar, the chairman of the party, was the speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament (1992-1993) and a presidential candidate in the presidential elections held in 2003. A total of 5 MPs represent the party at Milli Majlis.
The correspondent can be contacted at - [email protected]