Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 23 / Trend , A.Huseynbala/
Regardless of who will be elected secretary-general, the relations between Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe will not change.
"The Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will actively participate in the elections for the post of the Secretary General. Prior to the session, some discussions will be hold about the candidates. The relations between Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe at the level that regardless who will be elected the secretary-general of the organization, they will not change," Member of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, Gultakin Hajibayli said to Trend on Sept. 23.
The PACE autumn session will elect a new secretary-general of the organization.
Former Prime Minister of Poland Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland, Former Head of the Government of Belgium Luc van den Brande, and Member of the Hungarian Parliament Matthias Iorsh have been nominated for the post of the CE General Secretary. The CE Committee of Ministers has approved the candidatures of Cimoszewicz and Jagland of the four candidates in early September.
The current Secretary General Terry Davis was elected in June 2004.
Hajibayli said it is not so important who will be elected the secretary-general of the organization.
"First of all, the elected person will not represent his country, but the Council of Europe as a whole," said the member of the Azerbaijani Parliament.
According to Hajibayli, The Azerbaijani parliamentarians are free in choice. "Our delegation includes representatives of the ruling party and the opposition and independent MPs. Therefore, it is impossible to say that all members of the delegation will vote for one candidate," said Hajibayli.
Although the agenda of the autumn session does not include a question about Azerbaijan, the delegation members are very active in the discussions. "We again raise the issues that we consider important, but, as always, we do not wish to disclose in advance the issues that we will raise," said Hajibayli.
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