Azerbaijan, Baku, 19 August / Trend corr. E.Babayev / Mass resignations are not expected to take place in the left-wing Azerbaijan Social Democrat Party (ASDP). "Only member of the Central Committee supported participation in the presidential elections during the discussions held on the participation in the elections," Araz Alizade, the co-chairman of the ASDP, told Trend on 19 August.
The ASDP made a decision not to participate in the presidential elections with own candidate at the Central Plenum held on 18 August. The decision is connected with the presence of financial problem, the party said.
Elshan Manafov, the member of the ASDP Central Committee, resigned from the party, protesting this decision on 19 August. Manafov explained reason of his resignation with the party's decision not to join the elections and arousing of authoritarianism at the party. He said that he would establish the left-wing Democrat Party in future.
According to Alizade, he was for the participation in the upcoming presidential elections, but the party's financial state prevented it. "During the discussions at the Central Plenum, we told Manafov that our party could nominate him, if he wants confidently to join the presidential elections in the condition of the absence of finance, but he refused this decision," Alizade said and refused to comment on Manafov's resignation. "The ASDP is a free party and any person can join or resign from our party. I wish successes to Manafov and do not want to say anything in this regard," he said.
The ASDP is the left-wing opposition party. Araz Alizade and Ayaz Mutallibov, the Azerbaijani ex-president who lives in migration, are co-chairmen of the party.
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