Azerbaijan, Baku, March 11 / Trend , A. Huseynbala/
The Azerbaijani governing party says opposition's boycotting referendum will be useless as it has a weak popular support.
"The opposition lack sufficient slogans and resources to lead the public," the governing New Azerbaijan Party Political Council member and member of parliament Aydin MIrzazade told Trend .
Movement for Garabagh and Republic referendum group launched by opposition parties and public organizations has decided to boycott the referendum.
Azerbaijani referendum groups launched campaigning on Feb. 18. The campaign will end by 00:00 on March 16.
The free airtime is allotted on the Public Television at 18:15 - 19:45 and on Saturdays and at 20:15 - 21:34 on Wednesdays.
Azerbaijan will hold a referendum on March 18 to amend 29 Articles of the Constitution.
The Central Election Commission has registered the New Azerbaijan, City, Progress, Law and Democracy and Civil Society initiative groups. The Prosperous Village, Free Speech, Azerbaijan People's Republic and National Independence initiative groups were denied registration.
The Constitution was adopted in 1995. Amendments and additions were made in 2002.
Mirzazade said the opposition does not take any effective step to gain popular support.
"The opposition did not participate in last year's presidential election as it realized its weakness. New opposition members participated in the election instead," he added.
The old opposition drew a lesson from its mistake and decided to participate in the referendum, he said. "They are weak again. They could not bring any novelty."
Therefore opposition representatives could not perform efficiently in debates. The voters did not meet with them, he said. "I think opposition has understood its weakness and decided to retreat. Unfortunately, they could not do it in a proper way. Only strong powers can resort to boycott. "The opposition's boycott will be non-effective as it has less popular support," Mirzazade said.
The NAP was established by Nakhchivan Parliamentary Speaker Heydar Aliyev in 1992.
President Ilham Aliyev is the party's chairman. The party has ruled the country for 15 years.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at [email protected]