Azerbaijan, Baku, 19 August / Trend corr. E.Babayev / The ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) believes that parties, which will participate in the upcoming elections, are the leading force of opposition. "We believe that the parties, which participate in the elections, are the leading force of opposition," MP Mubariz Gurbanli, deputy of executive secretary of the NAP, told Trend on 19 August.
The presidential elections will be held in Azerbaijan on 15 October. Azadlig bloc, uniting three opposition parties (the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, the Liberal Party and the Citizen and Development Party), and the Classical Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, the Open Society, the Musavat, the Civil Solidarity, the Democratic, the Great Establishment, Azadlig, the National Independence, the Social Democratic parties and Eldar Namazov, the head of the Public Forum of 'For Azerbaijan', refused to participate in the elections with own candidates.
A total of six of 14 presidential contenders, who participate in the elections, are representatives of political parties. They include the chairman of the governing New Azerbaijan Party and current President Ilham Aliyev, the chairman of the Umid Party Igbal Agazade, the chairman of the Muasir Musavat party Hafiz Hajiyev, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Unified Popular Front Party Gudrat Hasanguliyev, the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Fuad Aliyev and the chairman of the Greens Party Mayis Gulaliyev.
According to Gurbanli, it is incorrect to describe opposition parties, which do not participate in the presidential elections, as leading opposition. "Some parties' non-participation in the elections can not create negative opinion on the elections process and can not influence on the election process. Candidates appear before the public in pre-elections campaign all over the world. Main criterion of the elections is not their personality, but existence of candidates and holding elections within the framework of the law. This criterion is fully justify itself," Gurbanli said. noting that next actions of the parties, which do not participate in the elections, would not affect on the results. "Actions of these or those opposition parties can not influence on results of the elections. The main factor, which can influence on the elections, is voters' and people's mood. Unification and separation of different parties are their interior matter," he said.
Heydar Aliyev, the chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Nakchivan, established the NAP in 1992. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is the current chairman of the ruling party, which has been in power for 15 years.