Azerbaijan, Baku, 13 October / Trend corr. I.Alizade / The Azerbaijani presidential candidates successfully completed the elections campaign, the results of the survey, conducted by the Trend agency, showed.
Fazil Gazanfaroglu, chairman of the opposition Great Establishment Party (GEP), said that he has done done more significant work during the election campaign than other candidates.
їWe showed the public that we have enough voters without artificially conducted opinion polls. None of the candidates was able to hold an electoral event in Nakhchivan. We conducted a meeting in Nakhchivan, attended by crowds of people, well as in villages of Baku and centre of the capital. Regarding this we offered the only serious program containing scientifically approved content. We spoke about the basic problems in this country during our television and radio presentations and it is one of factors, which made our election campaign successful,ї he said.
Gazanfaroglu said that he did not face any problems during the election campaign. їWe have experienced some obstacles. Although air time was limited, Gazanfaroglu said. In the case, Gazanfaroglu said the elections will be conducted in the democratic fashion he can obtain the minimum of 30% of votes. їIt has some other factors. The majority of the Azerbaijani intelligentsia and many categories of the society will support my program. Therefore, I am sure that I will get a lot of votes,ї Gazanfaroglu said.
Gulamhuseyn Alibayli, an independent candidate,said that the propaganda campaign was held in more normal and quiet condition than the previous elections. їSerious violations of law were not observed during the campaign. We faced with few problems during collecting signatures in two regions and organization of meetings. The signature collecting campaign, registration and propaganda stage were held within the framework of legislation,ї Alibayli said.
Alibayli said that he held meeting with voters in 12 regions during the propaganda campaign. їActivi strata of the society participated in meetings. My meetings covered more than half of voters, who will take part in the elections,ї he said.
The propaganda campaign was held successfully, Fuad Aliyev, the opposition presidential candidate and chairman of the Azerbaijan Liberal Democrat Party, said. їWe have not faced with serious problems since the first day of the campaign,ї Alibayli said. He believes that he will gather 50+1% of votes.
Gudrat Hasanguliyev, the chairman of the opposition Unified Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, said that the City Administration and police created obstacles at his meeting in Lankaran city during the propaganda campaign. їThe party spread a protest statement on this matter. Despite this, we did not faced with any problem during the propaganda campaign. We had problems basing on the legislation during the campaign. Our propaganda opportunities were more limited in 2008 than in 2003. Thus, private TV channels do not join the propaganda campaign. Moreover, ANS TV channel allocated air time only to advertising,ї Hasanguliyev said.
About 500,000 booklets were distributed amongst people. їThe booklet comprises some items of the platform. Booklets were distributed in Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan. The platform was spread through the electronic media, as well. I cannot name an exact number of people, who got familiarization with platform,ї Hasanguliyev said.
As to amount of votes, which he will gain, he said: їI do not want to speak on behalf of nation.ї Hasanguliyev believes that he has held the best election campaign amongst presidential candidates both on number of meetings and development of advertising.
Hafiz Hajiyev, the chairman of the opposition Muasir Musavat Party, considers the propaganda campaign as successful. їWe met with 1,250,000 voters and faced with obstacles in some regions. Representatives of international organizations participated in all our meetings,ї Hajiyev said.
According to Hajiyev, the propaganda campaign should better that the current one. їTV channels of the country could allocate more time to this process. If we had had more opportunities to publicize our thoughts to the public, now boycotting forces, which cannot cover five people, would not speak about absence of the election atmosphere in the country. There is the election atmosphere in the country. There is more progress in the country than in 2003,ї Hajiyev said.
As to number of votes, Hajiyev said that he ranked the second in opinion polls. We have enough voters to gain the second or third place in the elections. Two men can gain victory in the elections, either Ilham Aliyev or Hafiz Hajiyev.
The chairman of opposition Umid Party, Igbal Agazade, positively assessed the signature collection campaign. He is satisfied with the agitation period and called groundless the opinions regarding passivity of the election campaign.
їDuring the election campaign, we disseminated 150,000 CD, directly talked to 800,000 families, sent SMS containing slogan їVote for Igbal Agazadeї to 600,000 mobile numbers. We have used all modern technologies during the election campaign,ї Agazade said.
Ali Ahmadov, Executive Secretary of ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), said in his interview to partyїs official website that the party has realized previously planned and efficient agitation campaign within the period specified in the law. їDuring this period, many mass actions have been held, being attended by hundreds of thousands of people. The actions have raised pre-election activity of population. We consider that our agitation campaign will contribute to more active participation of people in the elections,ї Ahmadov said.
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