Azerbaijan, Baku, July 27 / Trend , A.Huseynbala/
The movement which unites some Azerbaijani opposition parties has stopped appointing candidates for the municipal elections.
"Since areas which municipalities will cover have not yet been specified after adopting the Law on the "Unification of Municipalities", we cannot determine which areas our candidates will be nominated from," the Chairman of the Azerbaijan Democrat Party (ADP), represented in the Movement for Karabakh and Republic, Sardar Jalaloglu told Trend on July 27.
The municipal elections will take place in Azerbaijan in autumn 2009 and the parliamentary elections in autumn 2010. Earlier, the municipal elections took place in 1999 and 2004.
The Azerbaijani parliament adopted the Law on the "Unification of Municipalities" in May. Under the law, the number of municipalities in Azerbaijan will decrease from 2,757 to 1,766.
Jalaloglu said that under the Law on "Municipalities", candidates for the municipalities can be nominated from the areas where they live. "As we do not know which areas the municipalities will cover after unification, we cannot appoint concrete candidates for the election. When the problem is solved, concrete candidates will be appointed," the party's Chairman said.
As to the participation of the parties represented in the movement, the ADP chairman said this issue had been repeatedly discussed with a common list of candidates in the municipal elections. "We cannot reach a common agreement on this issue due to the unification of the municipalities. The law indicates a concrete number on which political parties can participate as a bloc or independently. For instance, a party can participate in the elections as a bloc when the number of candidates comprises1/3 of the municipalities and when this figure comprises ½ of municipalities a party can participate in the elections independently," Jalaloglu stressed.
The ADP chairman said they could reach an agreement on the participation of the parties represented in the movement with a complete list, only when borders of municipalities have been fully specified.
The People's Front, Citizen and Development, Liberal, Musavat, Umid, and ADP, as well as several public organizations founded the Movement for Karabakh and Republic.
ADP was founded by Jalaloglu in 1991. The party took a radical position against the Government until 2007. In January 2007, the party took a new political course and improved relations with the authorities. In protest against the action Rasul Guliyev, the Ex-Chairman, and his supporters left the party and founded the Open Society party.
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