Two Azerbaijani Opposition Parties to Support Another Candidate

The presidential elections will be held in Azerbaijan on 15 October.  In July, Azadlig bloc, uniting three oppositional parties (the Popular Front, the Civil Development and the Liberal party), and the Classic Popular Front Party decided to boycott the elections. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party nominated the current President Ilham Aliyev for the presidential post at the end of the last week. The parties of Musavat, the Civil Solidarity, the Democratic and the Great Establishment refused to participate in the presidential elections with own candidates. The candidatures of Gudrat Hasanguliyev, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Unified Popular Front Party, Hafiz Hajiyev, the head of Muasir Musavat, Igbal Agazade, the chairman of the Umid party, Fuad Aliyev, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Liberal Democratic Party, and Mais Gulaliyev, the head of the Greens Party, have been officially nominated for the presidential post in Azerbaijan.

The Azadlig party took a decision not to participate in the presidential elections with own candidate at a meeting of the party's Central Executive Committee in June. A final decision will be taken at the party's Supreme Assembly on 6 August. "If the Supreme Assembly officially confirms the decision to participate in the presidential elections with own candidate, the Classical Popular Front and the National Democratic Parties, which are united within the Union for Democracy, will support our candidate," he said.

According to Oruj, he does not join the common policy, which is pursued by the opposition. "The parties, which decided to boycott the elections, isolated themselves. The unification of boycott parties is absolutely nonsense," the party chairman said.